Listless is defined as lacking energy or enthusiasm. That was the Nordonia Knights boys basketball team in Macedonia against Twinsburg, a team with only 5 wins going into tonight’s game. The Tigers won 70-54 after neither school had classes due to the first snow day of the year.
Nordonia jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to the always active Sophomore Drew Petros hitting on 2 drives to the hoop. The game was tied at 12 when a Twinsburg full-court pass was on the mark for a Gary Heath layup just before the buzzer. Sophomore Tye Evans was hurt on the play and didn’t return until the second half.
The close game turned into a double-digit affair with less than half the second period gone. Turnovers and poor defense that gave up a plethora of open shots, did in the Knights while Head Coach Kirk Culler pleaded for the players to be more active on defense. The Tigers led 33-24 at the half.
The Knights didn’t come out of the locker room with anymore energy than in the second quarter. In fact, the energy didn’t really show up until there was 6 minutes left in the game. Twinsburg extended the lead to 45-34 after 3 quarters thanks to numerous baseball passes down the court and breakaway layups.
Nordonia was able to cut the lead to 5 a couple times, first with 3:30 left and again with 3:06 left, but more length of the court passes and the Tigers making their free throws doomed the Knights. Twinsburg (now 6-15) was led by Senior Gary Heath’s 17 points and Sophomore Michael Moore’s 15. Nordonia (now 4-17) was led by Senior Jordan Adams’ 14 points that included three 3-pointers. Drew Petros scored 12 points, Junior Ryan Smith had 10 and Senior Justin Post added 7. Nordonia’s last game of the season is at home against Wadsworth on Friday night. It will be Senior Night and word is all 5 Seniors will start.
The Nordonia JV team lost in a game they trailed from the start, 47-36. The Knights were led by Sophomores Nick Kovacs and Spencer Harp who each had 8 points. Sophomore Mitch Ehrman had 6 points, Freshman Jordan Jones had 5 and Sophomore Justin Bell scored 4 points, all in the fourth quarter.
The Knights were down 16-4 after the first quarter and 22-10 late in the half, when Head Coach Steven Hustack called a time-out. That’s when Nick Kovacs scored a quick 4 points to cut into the Tigers’ lead.
Twinsburg started the second half with a 6-0 run that was stopped by a pretty inbound play where Freshman Evan Wiehe passed it across court to Nick Kovacs for a driving left-handed layup. Nordonia’s last gasp was a mini-run by Mitch Ehrman, who started it by getting fouled when driving to the basket. But instead of letting the ball be knocked away, he gathered it in mid-air, made the short jumper and knocked down the free throw for the traditional 3 point play. Seconds later Ehrman hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the lead to single digits. The Knights couldn’t get closer.
Nordonia’s Freshmen team started the evening with a close loss to Twinsburg. All 3 Nordonia teams are hoping for victories in Friday’s regular season finale against Wadsworth.
Photos by Victor Milani
