Nordonia’s boys basketball team lost their regular season finale 64-49 to Suburban League foe Wadsworth. It was Senior Night at Hugh Griffith Memorial gymnasium in Macedonia and Seniors Jordan Adams, Dominic Davis, Justin Post, Connor McMillan and Johanna Jones-Bey got a lot of playing time. In fact, all 5 started and came out with great energy.
The Knights (now 4-18) jumped out to a 5-2 lead which led to a Wadsworth timeout with 4:46 left in the first quarter. The Grizzlies offense started hitting on all cylinders after the timeout. Dominic Davis had 5 points in the opening period but Nordonia was down 13-11 after the first quarter.
Nordonia’s offense struggled in the second quarter, scoring only 7 points. Wadsworth led 26-18 at the half. The Grizzlies extended the lead early in the third quarter before the Knights cut it to 4 with 2 minutes left when Junior Mike Piotrowski hit a three-pointer. Wadsworth answered with a 3 of their own before Jordan Adams hit the first of two free throws. Johanna Jones-Bey got a hustle rebound off the missed second free throw and drove baseline for the layup, cutting the lead to 39-35 at the end of 3 quarters.
Down 5 in the fourth quarter Mike Piotrowski set himself to take a charge but the referee called it a block, even though it was a textbook charge. Wadsworth made the basket and the official didn’t like Piotrowski’s response earning him a technical foul. The Grizzlies made all 3 free throws and the Knights continued to fall further behind the rest of the game. Junior Ryan Smith, though bloodied and bruised after a physical game, led Nordonia with 12 points. Mike Piotrowski added 11, Dominic Davis had 8 and Jordan Adams dropped in 7. Also scoring for the Knights were Sophomore Drew Petros (5), Johanna Jones-Bey (4) and Junior Luke Alders (2). The play-offs begin for Nordonia on Wednesday at Akron Firestone with a 7 PM tip.
Nordonia’s JV team exploded with a 32 point fourth quarter, their largest output of the season, but lost to Wadsworth 62-57. Sophomore Ben Lowrey had 17 of his game high 24 points in the final period, hitting 4 threes in the closing minutes. Sophomore Spencer Harp scored 10 points and Freshman Evan Wiehe added 8. Also scoring for the Knights were Sophomore Nick Kovacs with 4, Freshman Jordan Jones with 4, Freshman Gabe Byrd with 3 and Sophomores Justin Bell and Mitch Ehrman each pitched in 2 points. This was the final game of the season for the JV team. Earlier in the evening, the Freshmen team lost their last game of the season as well.
Photos by Victor Milani
