With snow falling outside, the Nordonia Knights boys basketball team hoped the warm confines of home court would bring a win toward the end of this disappointing season. It was not meant to be, even with a near sell-out crowd. North Royalton extended their winning streak to 5 games with a 49-40 win in Macedonia. Nordonia has lost 10 straight since their exciting win at Twinsburg on January 8th.
The Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Bears went on a 12-2 run. Nordonia was down by 9 with the clock winding down in the quarter. Senior Jordan Adams hit a long 3-pointer just before the horn to reduce the North Royalton lead to 16-10.
Nordonia started the second quarter with more energy than they had shown in the first 8 minutes. The Knights were down just 18-15 when Junior Luke Alders was called for a technical foul. With no lip readers in the stands, what exactly was said will have to stay between the referee and Alders. The Bears missed both free throws and Nordonia got the ball back. Jordan Adams made a pretty layup in traffic to cut the lead to 1 point with just over 4 minutes left in the half.
Still in the second quarter, Freshman Julius Jones made a spinning, sweet move to get open then dropped the ball in to give the Knights their first lead since 2-0. After giving up the lead, Junior Mike Piotrowski hit a big three to put Nordonia back in the lead 24-22. A late basket by the Bears made the halftime score tied at 24. And what a halftime it was! 215 young ladies from the Nordonia Hills area cheered their way into the hearts of a packed house. All dressed in pink Nordonia Youth Cheer Clinic t-shirts and led by Brenda Basch, the girls did cheer after cheer to the delight of the fans.
Neither team fed off the electric environment. Missing layups and turning the ball over happened more in the third quarter than the entire first half. Sophomore Drew Petros scored the only basket for the Knights in the period, while Jordan Adams made a free throw, which accounted for all 3 points scored by the home team. North Royalton (13-7) led 33-27 after 3 quarters.
Mike Piotrowski hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 5, but Bears’ Senior Mitch Filippi immediately answered with his own three with 4:30 left in the game. Down 44-37 and the crowd yelling to shoot, Jordan Adams hit a 3 to cut the lead to 4. That was the last points the Knights (4-16) would score. A couple long 3-point attempts in the last 10 seconds were off the mark. North Royalton was led by Senior Alex Miduri’s 14 points, while Senior Sam Tarnowski flopped his way to 15. Nordonia was led by Jordan Adams’ 11 points. Drew Petros had 7 points, while Mike Piotrowski had 6 and Junior Ryan Smith had 5, as did Sophomore Tye Evans. The Knight’s next game is Tuesday at home against Twinsburg.
The Nordonia JV team also lost to North Royalton. The final was 47-36. The Knights were led by Freshman Evan Wiehe’s 13 points. He hit three 3-pointers in the game, including 2 in the final quarter. Sophomore Spencer Harp had 7 points and Sophomore Big Ben Broscheid had 6, all 6 came in the third quarter, the only points Nordonia scored. The Bears were led by Freshman Akram Abuhamdeh’s 14 points whlie Freshman Jack Bunsey added 10, all in the first half. The Nordonia Freshmen team started the evening with a 13 point loss.
Photos by Victor Milani
