STRONGSVILLE — Third-seeded Oberlin seemed to have a good chance for a berth in a district championship game, but the Phoenix faltered in the last four minutes and lost to second-seeded Lutheran East 69-61 in a Division IV district semifinal Friday night.
The game had been postponed from Tuesday because of snow.
Oberlin had a 56-55 lead on Kris Robinson’s rebound basket but in the last 4:30 was outscored by Lutheran East 13-5.
The Phoenix (13-9) made a game of it despite poor shooting by repeatedly forcing Falcon turnovers and turning them into easy layups. East (16-6) had 21 turnovers to only eight for Oberlin.
The bottom line in the loss was Oberlin’s 28-percent shooting (on a staggering 90 field goal attempts) and an inability to connect at the free throw line. East made 17 of 22 at the line but Oberlin only 5 of 16.
“It came down to free throws,” said Oberlin coach Kurt Russell. “We just couldn’t make our shots. It wasn’t going for us tonight. Usually we shoot the ball pretty well.
“This game hurt because we really wanted to get into the finals. But our kids played hard. We had a good season.”
Oberlin jumped out to a 7-0 lead and still led 12-6, with all 12 points scored by Morgan Jones. But Jones got only four points the rest of the game.
Lutheran East was led by the awesome play of 6-foot-6 junior William Felder, who scored 22 points and pulled down 16 rebounds.
Many of Oberlin’s 64 missed field goal attempts came on repeated offensive rebound putback attempts that wouldn’t fall. The Phoenix had an amazing 35 offensive rebounds and finished with a 56-52 edge overall on the boards.
After trailing by eight late in the third quarter, Oberlin went on a run of 11 points, three of the baskets on fast breaks, to take a 48-47 lead before the Falcons regained the lead at the buzzer. The fourth quarter then was nip-and-tuck until the final collapse at the end.
Lutheran East coach Roger McClinton also felt his team’s better free throw shooting was the difference. He was not happy with the turnovers.
“Our kids have to learn to take care of the basketball,” he said. “That’s what we did at the end and it turned things in our favor.”
East will play top-seeded St. Peter Chanel, a 98-77 winner over Horizon Science in the first game Friday, at 7 p.m., today for the district title.
Contact Jerry Rombach at 329-7137
or ctsports@chroniclet.com   

Lutheran East 69, Oberlin 61

LUTHERAN EAST (69): William Felder 9-4-22, Bradley Stevenson 5-9-21, Jon Terry 3-0-6, Taylor Calhoun 2-1-5, Stevon Gates 2-1-5, Robert Martin 1-2-4, Luqman Saber 2-0-4, Cameron Woods 1-0-2. Totals 25-17-67.
OBERLIN (61): Steve Kilgore 8-1-18, Morgan Jones 6-2-16, Kris Robinson 5-0-10, Tahron Roundtree 4-2-10, Shwaun Stevenson 2-0-5, Dominique Stemper 1-0-2, Jaron Hicks 0-0-0, Austin Pinkston 0-0-0,  Kristian Dotson 0-0-0. Totals 26-5-61.
Lutheran East   20    13    16    20    —    69
Oberlin             17    11    20    13    —    61
Three point goals: LE 2 of 3 (Stevenson 2), Oberlin 4 of 23 (Jones 2, Kilgore, Stevenson); Field goals: LE 25 of 55 (45 percent), Oberlin 26 of 90 (28 percent); Free throws: LE 17 of 22, Oberlin 5 of 16; Rebounds: LE 52 (Felder 16), Oberlin 56 (Rountree 11); Turnovers: LE 21, Oberlin 8; Fouls: LE 12, Oberlin 18. 

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---