NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Off to its best start in 30 years, North Ridgeville maintained sole possession of first place in the West Shore Conference with a 60-52 win Friday over second-place Midview.
The 1977-78 team started 9-1 after losing its second game of the season to Westlake, 65-63. The win Friday night puts North Ridgeville at 9-2, 6-1 in conference play.
Once again, it was the bench that came on to save the day for the Rangers.
With their big man, center Drew McGhee, saddled with two fouls after the first period, coach Bill Noggle called on Jeff Hammond to fill the defensive void and Adam Quinones to spark the offense.
Trailing 13-8 after the first quarter to a well-coached, well-disciplined Midview team, the Rangers rallied to tie the game at the half, 23-23, with McGhee sitting on the bench.
Derek Haney (22 points) led the charge for the Middies, scoring 12 of the 13 first-quarter points.
Hammond provided the Rangers with their first lead of the game, 23-22, on a putback before Haney sent the teams into the locker room tied.
“I felt the key to this game was the second quarter,” Noggle said. “We knew coming in that this would be a tough game because they are such a well-coached team. Drew goes to the bench with two fouls and Jeff Hammond steps up big. Although he’s not a scorer, he provided the defense and he got the ball where it needed to be. We were down by seven when Drew goes out of the game and we’re tied at halftime. The credit goes to the kids for responding and not folding.”
Quinones (18 points) and McGhee (eight points) took over the offense in the third quarter and North Ridgeville went on a 17-12 run to take a 40-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Middies hit a dry spell that started with three minutes left in the third quarter and lasted until 6:01 was left in the game. The Rangers were able to get the lead to double digits, 48-35, behind Keene Cockburn’s two 3-pointers, before Midview (5-7, 4-3) made its final run. The Middies cut the lead to three points behind the hot hand of Kevin Allen, who sank two 3-pointers to cut it to 54-51 with 1:05 left.
But North Ridgeville took advantage of Midview having to foul by hitting six of eight free throws.
“The good points for us were that when we fell behind we fought back,” Middies coach Troy DiFranco said. “We held McGhee to just eight points and at different times, different guys stepped up and made some big shots. Derek Haney put us on his shoulders the first half and then Kevin Allen hit some big shots in the fourth quarter.”
“In this conference you have to come to play every night. Give credit to North Ridgeville, their open guys hit the shots and we had a little stretch where we could hit the open shots. That little stretch really hurt us. We fought back, but we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
North Ridgeville continues its quest for the conference championship tonight at Rocky River, which it defeated in double overtime earlier in the season.
Contact Ron Nenadal at 329-7135 or at ctsports@chroniclet.com.

North Ridgeville 60, Midview 52
NORTH RIDGEVILLE(60): Drew McGhee 4-0-8, Keene Cockburn 4-5-15, Adam Quinones 6-4-18, Will Mahaffey 2-3-7, Tim Ice 0-0-0, Dan Montgomery 1-3-6, Jeff Hammond 1-0-2, Matt Murphy 2-0-4, Nick Rogerson 0-0-0, Jacob Rigsby 0-0-0,Tim Ice 0-0-0, Jason Ice 0-0-0, Devan White 0-0-0, Ryan McNamara 0-0-0. Totals 20-15-60.
MIDVIEW (52): Derek Haney 8-6-22, Kevin Allen 4-0-12, Brad Gross 2-0-7, Mike Mercado 1-1-3, Nick Clark 2-0-4, Cody Gunselman 1-0-2, Justin Casselle 1-0-2, Matt Borsz 0-0-0, Jordan English 0-0-0, Josh Wells 0-0-0, Jacob Klamut 0-0-0. Totals 19-7-52.
North Ridgeville  8 15 17     20  —   60
Midview 13 10 12 17 — 52 
Three-point goals: NR 5(Quinones 2, Cockburn 2, Montgomery); Midview 7 (Allen 4, Haney 2, Gross. Field Goals: N Ridgeville 20-35, Mid 19-43. Free Throws: North Ridgeville 15-23, Mid 7-9. Rebounds: N Ridgeville 21 (McGhee 5, Cockburn 5) Mid 21 (Clark 5). Turnovers: N Ridgeville 16, Mid 12. Fouls: North Ridgeville 14, Mid 22.
Junior Varsity: North Ridgeville 40, Midview 37

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