MANTUA—Kirtland held off host Crestwood in a Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division de facto championship game on Friday, 55-54.
With the win, the Hornets improved to 11-5 overall and clinched a share of the conference title with a 7-1 mark in league play.
“They played with great energy and amazing effort,” said Kirtland coach Shawn McGregor of his squad. “We were down three at the half, and at one point, we were down 10. At that point, we called a timeout and talked about handling adversity. We knew they were going to make runs but how we responded to those runs is whether or not we’re going to be in position to win or lose a game.”
Kirtland limited Crestwood to just four points after that timeout.
“They played with a tremendous amount of passion and I’m very proud of how they played,” McGregor said.
Kirtland took a 15-12 lead in the first quarter, but the Red Devils got hot in the second and went into the break leading 30-27. Lucas Renfro led the charge with 10 first-quarter points and Vince Carriero scored eight in the second to keep the Hornets within reach of the Red Devils.
Crestwood used a third-quarter run that prompted McGregor’s timeout, but the Hornets chipped away at the deficit and eventually took the lead for good in the fourth quarter.
“They did such a good job of playing team defense,” McGregor said. “Throughout the week, we talked about why are you here? Who are you playing for? You’re blessed to be in the position you are with the families that you have in the community. Choose a why and when you have that adversity, play for it, and I think the kids came out and they had someone special that they wanted to play for in their heart, and they came away with the ‘W.’”
Kirtland’s ability to overcome adversity in the second half was helped by the stellar defensive play of Will Burt, who held Crestwood sharpshooter Dekota Johnson scoreless in the second half. Johnson scored 11 points in the first half.
“I was just trying to be physical, stay disciplined, and fight through screens,” Burt said. “We knew coming in that Dekota was a good scorer, so I just needed to make it hard for him to get to his spots and give him tough looks to make the rebounding easier for my teammates.”
Burt was motivated by the big-game environment.
“This game was extremely important for our team,” he said. “To win the CVC, we needed a win tonight. Being down 10 in the third quarter against a good team like Crestwood is no easy feat to recover from, so I wanted to give all my effort and energy to fire up my teammates so that we could get the win.”
Trailing 51-48 in the fourth quarter, Carriero took over.
His and-one tied the game at 51, and then back-to-back buckets gave the Hornets a 55-51 lead. Crestwood’s James Durham hit a free throw and Brody Durham scored to pull Crestwood to within 55-54.
A jump ball sent the ball over to the Red Devils but Kirtland’s defense held to pull off the upset.
“For every kid, whether they played one minute or 32 minutes, they know every possession was vital when you’re playing in a championship game,” McGregor said. “They just came ready to play and did a great job.”
Renfro led all scorers with 21 points and Carriero finished with 20. Burt contributed with six, Aidan Hurd added four, Danny Alfieri scored three, and Ben DiFranco finished with one.
James Durham led Crestwood with 19 points, Brody Durham added 12, and Johnson finished in double figures with 11.
Kirtland closed out the league portion of its schedule. The Hornets can win the CVC Valley Division title outright with a Crestwood loss to Wickliffe on Feb. 7. The Red Devils would share the title with the Hornets if they beat the Blue Devils.
