EATON TWP. — When two conference winners get together you can usually expect a competitive game.
That’s exactly what the fans at the Midview Division I boys sectional tournament got in the third of three games Monday night. For the most part, they weren’t disappointed.
Taking advantage of 22 North Ridgeville turnovers, the Southwestern Conference champion and seventh-seeded Olmsted Falls Bulldogs ousted the West Shore Conference champion and fourth-seeded Rangers, 65-57.
North Ridgeville (16-5) had its chances at winning the game down the stretch, but turned the ball over on four straight possessions in the final minute after cutting the ’Dogs’ six-point lead to 60-57 with 2:13 left.
Olmsted Falls took advantage and put the game away.
Tony Lanza scored two of his 14 points with 1:42 left to push the Falls lead to 62-57. An offensive goal tending call against the Rangers kept the lead at five and North Ridgeville was forced to foul to get control of the ball.
The Rangers had another chance when Falls’ Pat Pellerite – the game’s high scorer with 25 points — missed three of four free throws, but the Rangers turned the ball over twice to dim any hopes they had of pulling out the game.
Each team had three players in double figures with Lanza and Scott Kimmey finishing with 14 apiece for the Bulldogs, while Drew McGhee and Adam Quinones each had 17 and Keene Cockburn finished with 15 for the Rangers.
The game was a seesaw affair throughout as the teams traded leads for most of the game with six points being the largest lead by either team until the final minute.
Olmsted Falls coach Pat Donahue pointed to his team’s senior leadership as a reason it was able to pull out the win.
“We have a few seniors out there who just didn’t want the season to end,” he said. “This was a tough, tough game for us. One, because North Ridgeville is a very good team; two, coming off the emotional win against North Olmsted last Friday night that gave us the championship. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know how our kids would come in, but give them credit. They responded so well tonight.”
For North Ridgeville it was a bitter pill to swallow. The team came in with a lot of confidence only to watch its season come to a disappointing end.
“You can’t turn the ball over 22 times to a team like Olmsted Falls and expect to win,” Rangers coach Bill Noggle said. “And you can’t let them shoot 22 free throws to just four for us, because they’re a very good free throw shooting team.”
“I’m very proud of this team, especially the seniors. They’ve turned the program around. They took the losing mentality and changed it both in the school and in the community and that’s something they can be proud of and the underclassmen can build on for next season.”
Olmsted Falls moves on to Friday night to take on Southwestern Conference foe Avon Lake in the rubber match between the two teams.

Olmsted Falls 65, North Ridgeville 57

NORTH RIDGEVILLE(57): Drew McGhee 7-3-17, Keene Cockburn 8-0-15, Adam Quinones 8-0-17, Will Mahaffey 1-0-2, Tim Ice 0-0-0, Dan Montgomery 2-0-4, Jeff Hammond 0-0-0, Matt Murphy 0-0-0, Nick Rogerson 0-0-0, Jacob Rigsby 1-0-2, Jason Ice 0-0-0, Devan White 0-0-0, Ryan McNamara 0-0-0. Totals: 27-3-57.
OLMSTED FALLS(65): Pat Pellerite 8-9-25, Tony Lanza 5-0-14, Scott Kimmey 4-4-14, Jim Brabenec 2-0-6, Mark Hurrell 1-2-4, Steve Battaglia 0-2-2, John Atkinson 0-0-0, Brandon Russo 0-0-0, Mike Abraham 0-0-0, Ian Sparks 0-0-0, Brett Emerine 0-0-0, Orlando Glenn 0-0-0.  Totals 20-17- 65.
North Ridgeville     16    12    16        13     —   57
Olmsted Falls    17    13    15    20    — 65  
Three-point goals: N Ridgeville (2) Cockburn, Quinones. Olmsted Falls (8) Lanza 4, Kimmey 2, Brabenec 2. Field Goals: N Ridgeville 27-44, Olmsted Falls 20-43. Free Throws: North Ridgeville 3-4, Olmsted Falls 17-24. Rebounds: N Ridgeville 23 (McGhee 7), Olmsted Falls 15 (Pellerite 6). Turnovers: N Ridgeville 22, Olmsted Falls 13. Fouls: North Ridgeville 19, Olmsted Falls 11. Fouled Out: NR Murphy.

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