Lake County Sentinel
Blue Devils dispatch Trojans 72-52 to advance to sectional final
. BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
Tuesday night at the Wickliffe High School Gym the OHSAA sectional playoffs began for the Home Wickliffe Blue Devils and the visiting Trinity Trojans.
Unfortunately for one the season would end with the final buzzer. In the end it was the Blue Devils who will move on to the sectional final as they soundly defeated the Trojans 72-52.
The Blue Devils got off to a slow start as they have many times this season when Trinity jumped out to an early 10-4 advantage with 5:05 left in the first quarter when Trinity Freshman Ian Anderson dropped in a layup. From that point on in the first quarter the Blue Devils outscored the Trojans 10-6 and the score was tied 16-16 at the end of the first. Wickliffe Junior Anthony Olsen led all scorers after one with eight points. Trinity shot 70% (7 for 10) from the field in the first, while Wickliffe shot 42% (6 for 14). The Trojans also led in turnovers with seven while the Blue Devils committed three turnovers.
The second quarter was all Blue Devils as the Trojans were 0 for 9 from the field, scoring all nine of their points from the free throw line. Wickliffe began the period on a 19-3 run led by Senior Center Josh Perpar who tallied four points and played excellent defense during the run that lasted 5:31. Wickliffe took a 44-25 lead into the halftime break outscoring the Trojans by 19 in the second quarter. Wickliffe Senior Justin Metzger led all scorers in the period with seven points. The Blue Devils shot 40% (15 for 37) in the first half and the Trojans finished the first half shooting 36% (7 for 19).
The second half turned into a blow out as Wickliffe once again outscored the Trojans in the third period, this time by 13-12 to take a 57-37 lead into the final period.
The Blue Devils extended the lead to 31 points at 68-37 when Freshman Shane Adamski hit a three-point basket with 5:12 left in the contest. At that point Wickliffe cleared the bench and got some valuable playing time for some of their JV players who finished the game. Blue Devils coach said it those were very important minutes for the young guys.
Wickliffe’s Olsen led all scorers with 19 points in the victory. Senior’s Micky Samuel & Ryan Samko led the Trojans in scoring they had 16 points apiece in the loss.
The Blue Devils will now move on the play at Warrensville Hts. against the Tigers on Friday at 7:00 p.m. in the sectional final.
@SportsSentinel POSTED 02/26/2019 23:42
