Boys basketball: Silver lining for Middies vs. Cloverleaf
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WESTFIELD TWP. — Midview suffered its third straight defeat Tuesday, losing 56-48 to Cloverleaf in a non-conference game. Despite the loss, the Middies (1-3) may have found that missing offensive weapon coach Troy DiFranco has been searching for the past two weeks.
With Cloverleaf (1-3) leading 52-34 midway through the fourth quarter, DiFranco inserted sophomore Ryan Mains into the lineup to give him some varsity experience. The sophomore had already scored 13 points in the JV game, so he was primed to go.
In a little over four minutes of action, Mains scored nine points, was 3-of-3 from the field, 2-of-3 from the foul line and had a pair of steals. Behind his showing, the Middies closed the gap to 54-46 before the Colts finally put the game away.
“That was Mains first varsity game,” DiFranco said. “Based on his performance tonight and the closing spark he gave us, he will be seeing a lot more playing time in the future.”
Until Mains’ appearance, the only offensive weapon Midview had was another sophomore, Riley Moore, who had a career- and game-high 20 points to supply the Middies’ offense through the first three quarters.
While Moore was going solo, the Colts had a trio of scorers. Colin Wray (19 points, four rebounds), Cody Furr (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Dillon Wilson (18 points, eight rebounds, two assists) that each finished in double digits.
Wray and Furr are usually counted on by Cloverleaf to score the points, but Wilson was a complete surprise. Normally a role player the past two years, the senior had career highs in both points and rebounds.
It was Wilson who supplied the fire in the third quarter when Cloverleaf stretched a 26-17 halftime lead to 41-29 at the end of three. In that period, Wilson scored 11 points and had seven rebounds.
“We have been looking for that third player on the team to produce offensively for us and tonight we found him,” said Colts coach Dan Brown, who earned his first career victory. “Wilson has always been a dependable spot player, but tonight he stepped up and played the type of game we always knew he was capable of playing.”
Because of its early start, Cloverleaf held the edge in almost all statistical categories. The Colts outrebounded Midview 35-24, had 13 assists to the Middies 10 and shot 52 percent (23 of 44) to Midview’s 46 (26 of 50).
Cloverleaf 56, Midview 48
MIDVIEW (48): Anthony Zunis 2-1-6, Jake Stracensky 0-0-0, Andrew Agee 2-0-4, Patrick Linn 2-1-5, Riley Moore 8-2-20, Eddie Brezina 0-0-0, Ryan Mains 3-2-9, J.J. Manning 1-0-2, Patrick Geyser 1-0-2, Justin Morris 0-0-0. Totals 19-6-48.
CLOVERLEAF: Zack Miglich 0-0-0, Colin Wray 7-4-18, Will Luppino 0-0-0, Cody furr 7-1-15, Dillon Wilson 7-3-18, Heath Eby 1-0-2, Brandon Whitslar 0-1-1, Nolan Turpin 1-0-2, Kori Davis 0-0-0. Totals 23-10-56.
Midview 9 8 12 19 — 48
Cloverleaf 14 12 15 15 — 56
3-point goals: Moore 2, Mains, Zunis. Rebounds: Midview 24 (Linn 10), Cloverleaf 35 (Furr 11). Assists: Midview 10 (Linn 5), Cloverleaf 13 (Whitslar 5).
Junior varsity: Midview, 58-43.
Contact Ho Hoffman at sports@ohio.net.
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