Lake County Sentinel
Blue Devils
. BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
S
Devils. The original Blue Devils delivered the better product and the win as Wickliffe cruised to a 66-56 victory over Independence.
Wickliffe got off to a fast start scoring the first 11 points capped off by a layup by sophomore Chase Fortkamp. Fortkamp had four of the first 11 as did Senior Jonny Abramczyk and Junior Anthony Olsen also had a three pointer in the early run for Wickliffe.
Independence made a run in the quarter and cut it to 13-10 with 2:48 left in the quarter after a layup by junior Wyatt Flynn. The quarter ended with Wickliffe on top 20-17. Wickliffe outshot Independence 60% to 46% in the quarter and turned the ball over three times while Independence turned it over nine.
The start of the second quarter was a battle as Independence took their only lead of the game at the 7:29 mark at 21-20 when Sophomore Adam Miklovic hit a jumper. Wickliffe then went on a 9-0 run over the next 2:27 that was capped off by three pointer by Olsen giving the elder Devils a 29-21 lead. The rest of the quarter was close as Independence outscored Wickliffe 10-8 to trail 37-31 at halftime.
Independences Miklovic led all scorers at halftime with 13 points, Flynn also had 10. Olsen led Wickliffe scorers with nine points, Abramczyk and Junior Brenton Petras also each had six for Wickliffe at the break.
Wickliffe extended their lead to ten with 5:51 left in the third quarter when Fortkamp hit a layup and the lead was 43-33. Independence closed the gap to six points at 43-37 with 5:02 left on the clock in the third when Freshman Kyle Zygmunt hit a jumper. That was the closest Independence got as Wickliffe extended the lead to nine with 3:52 left when Fortkamp dropped in another layup to give Wickliffe the 46-37 lead. The Original’s pushed the lead to twelve points at 57-45 when the quarter ended.
The fourth quarter got off to a rough start as the two teams scored a combined four points in the first 3:30 of the final period. Wickliffe scored only nine in the period and Independence score 11.
Three Wickliffe players were in double figures for the game, Olsen finished with 15, Junior Gianni LaPaglia had 11 and Petras 10. Flynn led Independence with 21 in the losing effort.
Wickliffe we be in action next on Friday when they travel to Newbury to take on the Black Nights at 7:30 p.m.
@SportsSentinel POSTED 02/12/2019 23:20
