EATON TWP. — Midview ended its West Shore Conference basketball schedule the same way it ended its conference football season — beating neighborhood rival North Ridgeville.
The Middies used a 19-9 fourth quarter to break a 39-all tie and come away with a 58-48 win over the conference-champion Rangers on Friday night.
After playing catch-up throughout the first half, North Ridgeville finally did catch Midview starting the third quarter and actually led 37-32 until Cody Gunselman’s 3-point basket with 1:05 left in the quarter tied the game at 37.
Justin Casselle’s basket gave Midview the lead temporarily, until the Rangers’ Keene Cockburn converted two free throws to send the game into the final quarter tied.
The fourth quarter started off all Middies as the home team ran off
11 straight points before North Ridgeville finally scored with 4:40 left in the game.
Danny Montgomery cut the Midview lead to just six, 50-44, but it was too little, too late.
Six points was the closest the Rangers would get the rest of the game as Mike Mercado sealed the decision by making 6 of 8 free throws. Midview’s defense held the Rangers to only nine points in the final quarter.
“Coming into the game, we wanted to pressure the ball defensively,” Midview coach Troy DiFranco said. “We wanted to control the basketball and make better shot selections, which, for the most part, we did. And we wanted to play for 32 minutes.
“We’ve had a tough stretch where we lost four or five in a row. To come in on our floor, against the conference champs, I was real proud the way we put those 32 together. We’re a young team and hopefully we can build on this.”
North Ridgeville coach Bill Noggle found something positive to take away from the loss.
“I’m proud off the way we fought back in the second half even though our shots weren’t falling,”  Noggle said.
“This loss will get us to refocus on what we have to do. When we lost our first game, we came back and won seven in a row. I told the kids ‘let’s do it again.’
“Tonight I thought we let our emotions get the best of us. When we sit down, tonight’s game could be a learning experience for us.
“We have to learn from it and we will. We will learn from it and we’ll be ready to make that tournament run.”
Midview’s Derek Haney started off slowly but ended up with a team-high 14 points. Mercado added 11.
Midview wrapped up its conference schedule at 6-8 (7-12 overall) and will play Wellington tonight before heading into the tournament.
The Middies will play next Friday against the winner of the game between Lakewood and John Marshall.
The Rangers — who were led by center Drew McGhee with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds and Keene Cockburn with 16 points — finished their conference schedule at
12-2 (15-4) and will play Amherst tonight to finish the regular season. North Ridgeville meets Southwestern Conference champion Olmsted Falls in the Division I tournament Monday night.
Contact Ron Nenadal at 329-7135
or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Midview 58, North Ridgeville 48

NORTH RIDGEVILLE(48): Drew McGhee 7-4-18, Keene Cockburn 5-5-16, Adam Quinones 2-1-5, Will Mahaffey 0-0-0, Tim Ice 0-0-0, Dan Montgomery 3-0-7, Jeff Hammond 0-0-0, Matt Murphy 0-2-2, Nick Rogerson 0-0-0, Jacob Rigsby 0-0-0, Jason Ice 0-0-0, Devan White 0-0-0, Ryan McNamara 0-0-0. Totals 17-12-48.
MIDVIEW (58): Derek Haney 6-2-14, Kevin Allen 0-0-0, Brad Gross 4-0-8, Mike Mercado 2-6-11, Nick Clark 4-0-9, Cody Gunselman 1-4-7, Justin Casselle 1-0-2, Matt Borsz 0-0-0, Jordan English 3-0-7, Josh Wells 0-0-0, Jacob Klamut 0-0-0.  Totals 21-12-58.
North Ridgeville     12    12    15        9    —    48
Midview    18    10    11    19    —    58
Three-point goals: N. Ridgeville (2) Cockburn, Montgomery. Midview (4) Mercado, Gunselman, English, Clark. Field Goals: N. Ridgeville 17-44, Midview 19-43. Free Throws: N. Ridgeville 12-17, Midview 12-17. Rebounds: N. Ridgeville 20 (McGhee 12), Midview 27 (Clark 7, Gross 7). Turnovers: N. Ridgeville 15, Midview 17. Fouls: N. Ridgeville 16, Midview 18.
Junior varsity: N. Ridgeville 48, Midview 36. 

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