In the first meeting of the season between Willoughby South and Eastlake North the Rebels needed a shot in the closing seconds to beat the Rangers.
It was a different story in the second meeting between the rivals as South used a late run in the second quarter to pull away from the Rangers, 61-35.
The Rebels jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before North got on the board with a basket. South junior Jaylen Jenkins stole an errant pass away from the Rangers and took it to the hoop for a driving layup. Jenkins’ drive gave the Rebels their biggest lead of the quarter at six. North seniors Chris Province and Travis Picquet combined on a quick 5-0 run, cutting the lead to one.
Rebels senior Brandon Teske led the game with six points in the first quarter as the Rebels led 14-11 after the first eight minutes of play.
Rangers sophomore Brandon Barron opened the second with a three to tie the game at 14. His classmate Kyle Andryscik split a pair of free throws that put the visitors ahead 15-14 with six minutes to go.
South senior Doug Burks, who was the hero back in January at North, made a layup to regain the16-15 lead for the Rebels. That layup commenced a 14-0 run that ended the half with a South 28-15 lead.
Teske scored five points in the second period to lead the players with 11 points in the half while Picquet led the Rangers with five.
In the third quarter, North traded baskets with the Rebels to stay within a reasonable amount. The Rangers cut the lead to 12 on a layup by senior Brandon Robinson with three minutes left. Jenkins and fellow classmate Devaniare Conliffe combined for a five-point swing, with Jenkins making a three point play.
Following a North timeout, Rebels senior Dan Danford scored the final three points of the third quarter as the Rebels led by 18.
With the game out of reach, the South bench ran the lead up to as much as 28 in the fourth quarter. The Rebels extended their winning streak to four games with the win over the Rangers.
Eleven different Rebels reached the scorebook as Teske led the Rebels and all scorers with 13 points. Senior Mark DeLisio had 11 points and Burks added nine.
Picquet led the Rangers with nine points. Robinson had all of his six points in the third quarter.
South improved to 12-7 overall and 9-2 in the Western Reserve Conference. The Rebels are tied with Brush, who also won on Tuesday.
North dropped their seventh straight game as they are 4-14 on the season. They are 2-9 in the conference and they will travel to Euclid on Wednesday.
