It is difficult to end a 4-19 season on a good note but that’s exactly what the Nordonia Knights boys basketball team did against Akron Firestone in the Copley District of the Division 1 play-offs. Firestone won 74-61 in Akron but Nordonia was led by its Juniors, giving Knights’ fans hope for next season. Junior Mike Piotrowski led the Knights with 15 points, while fellow Juniors Ryan Smith (12 points) and Luke Alders (6 points) attacked the boards all night. Junior David Johnson got into “Junior Night” too by hitting both his free throws late in the game.
The Falcons, playing their last game in their 43 year old gym, started the game strong by scoring the first 7 points of the game. Luke Alders’ corner jumper with 4:33 left in the first quarter stopped Firestone’s run. More like paused the run because the Falcons scored the next 10 points to go up 17-2. Mike Piotrowski hit a jumper then a late three pointer to cut into Firestone’s lead which was 23-7 after the first quarter.
The teams went back and forth most of the second quarter before Ryan Smith scored 7 straight points to cut it to 37-26 with under a minute left. Firestone hit a few buckets to make it 41-26 at the half. The Falcons started the second half slowly and a banked three by Ryan Smith got the Knights within 7 points with 3:56 left. Firestone scored 11 of the next 14 points to take a 56-41 lead into the final period.
Nordonia was not able to get it under 15 points in the fourth quarter until Freshman Evan Wiehe hit a long three with 2 minutes left. Sophomore Ben Lowrey hit a three-pointer a few seconds later but the game was out of reach at that point. Though led by the Juniors, other Nordonia underclassmen played a lot of minutes and played them well. Sophomore Tye Evans had 6 points and numerous rebounds. Freshman Julius Jones had 5 points and Sophomore Drew Petros had 2 points before hurting his right wrist. Sophomores Spencer Harp and Mitch Ehrman played significant minutes as well. Before fouling out, Senior Justin Post had 6 points while Senior Dominic Davis added 2.
Firestone is set to play Archbishop Hoban in the second round of the play-offs Saturday February 27th.
