Cardinal boys basketball: Quartet of Huskies rewriting school record books

Feb. 18—Records are written in pencil with the intent to be erased and edited later.

A quartet of Cardinal players have written their names all over the school's record book, and their accomplishments might not be topped for a long time. A trio of seniors, Jake Bean, Paul Gall and Ethan Detwiler, along with junior Troy Domen, have shattered records all through the season and left their mark in the annals of school history.

Bean passed the 1,000-point mark just past the midway point of the season and broke Todd Hill's record of 1,117 against Crestwood on Feb. 3. He sits at 1,172 points in his career and averages 15.6 points this season.

The Kent State baseball commit knew that the scoring mark was within reach as the season began but wasn't going to push his own numbers to hit the mark sooner. What mattered more to him was doing what was asked in a game for a win.

"It's a pretty cool thing. But for me it's going out there to try and win every game," Bean said. "The scoring is nice and everything. But in my mind it's not my priority. I want us to end up in the win column more than not. If there is a game where I have five points but we win that's just as good. It's something that I'll be happy to look back on but has never been my number one goal."

While Bean has handled the scoring load for Cardinal in three of his four years on the varsity roster, Gall has gone to work in the post and handled the rebounding responsibilities in the four-year stretch.

Gall broke the record held by Troy Peters for rebounding, who finished with his stint with the Huskies with 651 boards. Gall sits at 739 for his career and is second in the area with an 11.7 average this season.

Working in the post is often a thankless job but it's what Gall knew as his role as the season began. He has always been a factor in the paint and while he often goes against the other teams big, he's made a habit of finding ways to come down with the ball.

"It's a great accomplishment and I don't take it for granted at all," Gall said. "It's been a journey. I have to want the ball the most and I approach every game with that mindset. You have to have the will to go up and get it and I believe in every game that I have more of a want for it than anyone else."

While his fellow seniors have already put their names in the record books, Detweiler is in pursuit of the career assists record. That is held by Luke Timas with 324.

Detweiler sits at 321 assists in his time on the varsity side. Unlike his fellow seniors, he had an abbreviated stint as a freshman, he only had 10 games as opposed to Bean and Gall's 20 games.

While many guards run the offense off the dribble, Detweiler takes a more methodical approach to the game. While many of his passes end up in buckets, he also takes pride in the passes he makes to set up plays.

"Since we've been playing together for so long, there was already that chemistry," Detweiler said. "We can be so spread out but at the same time we've gotten better in the paint to make it well rounded. When we find that hot hand, we all know every position and how to play that position. We can run any play for anyone and that's a big challenge for teams. They can't focus on one player and that makes it a lot more fun as the ball distributor."

While his senior teammates have either put their names in the record books or are on the fringe of doing so, Domen wasn't going to let them have all the fun. The junior broke the steals record that was also held by Peters of 197 against Grand Valley on Jan. 10.

He sits at 222 for his career but is also on the hunt for some other records as well. Next season Domen will be on the hunt for the scoring and assists records as well.

Domen's also tied the number for steals in a game with 12 and steals in a season with 103. Even though he is in pursuit of even more records, Domen puts his defensive work over everything..

"My drive for basketball really helps and my on-ball defense is something that I've really taken pride in," Domen said. "I saw the numbers going up every game and that pushed me to make my defense better. That's really been a propeller for it. It does help knowing that I'll have the chance to go after more goals next season and it's going to be a big motivator for sure."

Both Bean and Detweiler joked about considering running up their records to make Domen's chase more challenging, but would be more than happy to see someone they've known since they were kids be the ones to break their records.

The quartet have known each other since they were 6 and played together just as long. They've played travel ball together, have been a part of the Huskies the past three years on the varsity level and now prepare for a final run in the postseason.

Setting the school history marks have been big accomplishments, all four shared the same sentiment of it wouldn't be the same if they did it without each other.

"We come out here every day and no matter whether it's a practice or a game, we're out here having fun," Bean said. "We're laughing, joking, if we're in the fourth quarter, 30 seconds left and a two-point game, we're still relaxed and having fun because at the end of the day we're out there playing with our best friends."

Detweiler added: "It's been like playing with family. It's one of those things where you build those relations and go into battle with each other. We stay in touch even after the season is over and still play basketball after this and its special to be able to finish out our careers together."

Another record that was equaled this season for Cardinal was the 3-pointers made in a game. Senior Ty O'Brien made seven in the season opener against West Geauga, which tied the mark set by Robbie Bruncak in 2019.