CANTON — Chagrin Falls led by eight points with four minutes remaining, but Canton Central Catholic closed the game on a 12-2 run to escape with a 55-53 win in a Division V Regional Semifinal on Wednesday at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
The Tigers held a 51-43 lead late before the Crusaders surged back to advance to the regional final.
“I knew the first part of the game was going to be a little shaky. Those guys have been here before; we haven’t, so it was going to take a little time for us to kind of get used to it and control our adrenaline,” said Chagrin Falls head coach Dave Bargar. “I think once we did that, we showed what we’re about after the first few minutes. We got after them hard, and we played really, really good ball for a long time. They’re a really good team, and that’s what it should be in a regional game.”
Harrison Horvath opened the scoring with a layup before Quin Bargar buried a 3-pointer to give the Tigers an early 8-6 edge.
Brady Kaas followed with a jumper off the glass, Owen Adelman added a baseline floater, and Bargar capped the opening quarter with a strong finish inside to give Chagrin Falls a 14-10 lead.
The Tigers stretched the margin in the second quarter. Kaas delivered a bounce pass to Jake Vasko for a bucket, Bargar knocked down another 3-pointer, and Kaas finished a cut to the rim as Chagrin Falls built a 27-16 advantage.
Canton Central Catholic answered before halftime, with Peter Fischer controlling the offensive glass to help the Crusaders trim the deficit to 29-25 at the break.
Horvath sparked the Tigers again to open the third quarter, scoring on back-to-back transition layups before converting a third layup off a bounce pass from Adelman to give Chagrin Falls a 35-30 lead.
Vasko later connected on a 3-pointer to push the margin to 41-32, but Central Catholic rallied again and closed the quarter on a run to pull within 42-41 entering the fourth.
The Tigers responded early in the final period. Fischer converted a putback, Brady DeVito drove the lane for a score, and Bargar knocked down a big 3-pointer before DeVito found Horvath for a layup that made it 51-43 with four minutes remaining.
From there, the Crusaders seized momentum. Central Catholic scored 12 of the final 14 points to complete the comeback and punch its ticket to the Elite Eight.
“I’m so darn proud about the way our guys competed against a group of kids that I’m sure their goals are probably higher than this game,” Bargar said. “I was really proud of how our guys competed tonight.”
Despite the heartbreaking finish, the loss ended a remarkable stretch for Chagrin Falls, which had won 18 straight games and had not lost during the 2026 calendar year.
“I think I underestimated their resiliency and their grit as a group,” Bargar said. “Great teams don’t win 18 games in a row very often, and our guys almost got number 19 tonight against a darn good basketball team. It’s been a whirlwind since January 1. This is our first loss in 2026, and it really showed the kind of competitors these guys are.”
Quin Bargar led Chagrin Falls with 13 points and five rebounds. Vasko added 10 points, while Horvath finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
Adelman contributed six points and five rebounds, and Kaas added five points with three rebounds and three assists.
Chagrin Falls closes the season at 21-5, capturing a share of the Chagrin Valley Conference title and a district championship.
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