Firebird boys cagers dominate on way to district title

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by Devan Matthews

Correspondent

Strongsville -- The St. Peter Chanel boys basketball team is on a serious roll.

That roll includes three straight wins in the postseason and a district championship.

The Firebirds captured a Division IV district title March 1 with a 79-64 victory over Lutheran East at Strongsville High School.

With the win, Chanel improved to 15-8 on the season and advanced to the regional semifinals March 4 against Windham at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse. Results of the regional semifinal were not available at press time.

The Firebirds' other two victories were an 84-48 thrashing of Mapleton in the sectional finals Feb. 22 and a 98-77 smoking of Horizon Science Academy Feb. 29.

Chanel pulled away from Lutheran East in the fourth quarter. The game was close until then.

The Firebirds led 15-13 after the opening stanza and 32-31 at intermission. They extended their advantage to 49-43 at the end of three periods of play and then exploded for 30 points in the final frame to put the ballgame out of reach.

Junior center Lamar McKnight led Chanel's offensive assault with 23 points. In addition, four other Firebirds reached double digits--junior guard Jareed Robinson with 15 points, junior point guard Jo'Vaughn Brown with 13 points, junior forward Arthur Jordan with 12 markers and senior guard John Mosley with 11 points.

Also cracking the scoring column was sophomore guard Isaiah Chambers, who contributed five points.

Chanel knocked down 25 field goals and a whopping 27 free throws. The Falcons, meanwhile, managed to make 21 shots from the field and 19 at the foul line.

With the loss, Lutheran East, the second seed in the tournament, ended its season at 16-7.

Chanel played what might have been its most impressive game of the campaign against Horizon in the district semifinal round.

The Dragons simply had no chance against Chanel's high-powered offensive attack.

The Firebirds had three players in double figures, but three others scored nine points each. Those in double digits included McKnight with 21 points, Brown with 18 points and Jordan with 14 markers.

The three who each bucketed nine points were Mosley, Robinson and senior center Nate Novak.

Chanel scored over 20 points in all four quarters. The Firebirds raced to a 22-15 advantage after one period and held a commanding 50-23 lead at intermission.

Horizon came out motivated in the third stanza, putting 27 points on the scoreboard. Unfortunately for the Dragons, so did Chanel.

Horizon put another 27 points on the board in the fourth frame, but by then it was a case of too little, too late.

In the shooting department, Chanel made a ridiculous number of field goals -- 40, to be exact. The Firebirds also added 13 successful free throw attempts.

The defeat sent Horizon Science Academy into the off-season with a record of 19-4. The Dragons were the fourth seed in the tournament.

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