HENRIETTA TWP. — Firelands dug itself into a hole it couldn’t climb out of Friday night.
The Falcons trailed by 16 points after a quarter, made the game respectable for a time, but got smoked by Vermilion, 76-61, in a West Shore Conference foul-shooting contest.
The old rivals shot 67 free throws between them, 38 by Vermilion. The Sailors (7-4, 5-2 WSC) did a better job with more opportunities (29-17) from the line and destroyed the Falcons on the backboards, 45-26. Firelands fell to 2-9, 1-6 in the conference.
Vermilion got double-doubles from Derek Hoebing, its 6-foot-7 junior forward, who scored a game-high 16 points and logged 13 rebounds, and Tim Clark, a
6-4 junior forward, who contributed 14 points and 11 boards.
Despite the huge first-quarter deficit, Firelands battled back and cut the Sailors’ lead to 38-30 at the break. And the Falcons were still within eight points, 48-40, midway through the third quarter. But Vermilion made 10 of 11 foul shots and Clark pulled in 10 rebounds in the fourth period alone.
The game sent cousins who start for each team against one another — Hoebing and the Falcons’ Matt Deichler. A third cousin, Mike Virgine, also plays for Vermilion.
“This was a rivalry game, so we knew it was going to be physical,” Hoebing said. “They (coaches) warned us before the game, not so much because of the rivalry, but because it was a conference game.”  
As for the rebounding disparity, “Well, we had the size,” Hoebing said. “Most teams we play, we have the size.”
Firelands’ tallest starters were Ryan Waldmann and Kreig Hozalski, both 6-4.
“We didn’t get off to a very good start,” said Firelands coach John Tice. “We didn’t take very good care of the ball and we talked about that before the game.”
Contact Bob Daniels at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
Vermilion 76, Firelands 61
Vermilion (76): Kurt Innes 1-1-3, Paul Kishman 0-2-2, Kyle Herchler 1-2-5, Nick Clason 0-0-0, Mike Virgin 0-0-0, Matt Liljegren 2-4-8, Derek Barbato 2-2-6, Justin Turner 4-1-10, Tim Clark 3-8-14, Nick Farley 3-5-12, Derek Hoebing 6-4-16. Totals 22-29-76.
Firelands (61): Brian Klingshirn 0-0-0, Nick Simonovich 4-5-14, Dominic Gentile 3-0-7, Matt Deichler 3-0-6, Justin Morell 1-0-2, Cory Stevens 2-6-10, Kreig Hozalski 6-3-15, Jacob Earl 1-0-2, Ryan Waldmann 1-3-5, Zack Danko 0-0-0, Bryan Filker 0-0-0. Totals 21-17-61.
Vermilion  23 15 24 14 — 76
Firelands  7 23 19 12 — 61
3-point goals: Vermilion 3-11 (Turner, Farley, Herchler); Firelands 2-14 (Simonovich, Gentile). Field goals: Vermilion 22-71 (31 percent); Firelands 21-51 (41 percent). Free throws: Vermilion 29-38; Firelands 17-29. Rebounds: Vermilion 45; Firelands 26. Turnovers: Vermilion 17; Firelands 20. Fouled out: Deichler, Gentile, Farley.
Junior varsity: Vermilion, 72-54.

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