'I couldn’t be more proud': East falls to Lutheran West in OHSAA district final
NORTH RIDGEVILLE — At the end of East’s 62-45 loss Saturday to Lutheran West in the Division II district final, Dragons coach Chad Hazard was able to take a moment with all of his players.
As the handshake line dissipated and his players went back to the bench to wait for their second-place medals, Hazard made his way one by one down the bench, dapping up each player and relaying a single, bittersweet message: That he was proud of them.
Despite only going seven-deep on the bench and playing most of the year with a mishmash lineup, the Dragons (20-6) still managed to win the second-most games in school history while coming within one win of a district championship.
“We had a spectacular year and I couldn’t be more proud of these guys. We exceeded expectations by a long shot.” Hazard said. “I couldn’t be prouder of our guys.”
In the end, the fifth-seeded Dragons ended up running out of gas against loaded the Longhorns (22-3), whose combination of depth and size proved to be too much to overcome.
“That’s a state team right there,” Hazard said. “They had multiple bigs and are well coached. State teams have a look to them, and Lutheran West has that look to them. The margin of error was extremely small.”
Early on, East was able to keep up, and even led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter on Kardiay Tyler's 3-pointer with 15 seconds left.
That momentum was short-lived, however, as the top-seeded Longhorns opened the second quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 24-17 lead. While it looked like East might make a comeback when sophomore De’Arion Holley had a thunderous putback dunk on the Dragons’ next possession, the Longhorns outscored the Dragons 6-2 the rest of the second quarter before putting the game away in the second half.
“We played great for a quarter and a half,” Hazard said. “We needed to make some shots early that didn’t go in. We would have liked to play them a little closer.”
The Dragons were led by seniors La’Grand Sowell, who tallied a team-high 13 points, and Mike Woodell, who contributed 10.
Although Hazard’s seniors weren't able to go out on top, he said he is grateful for the culture they helped establish for a budding East program.
“I feel bad for the seniors, but in the long run they’ll look back on this season and be proud because they left it all on the line throughout the entire year,” Hazard said. “These guys have been going at it for five months and are exhausted.”
That said, the future's still bright for East’s program. Despite playing out of position as an under-sized center, Holley finished with eight points and three rebounds.
As Hazard went down the bench with his players after the game, Holley was the final player he reached, with the two of them exchanging a hug. Hazard is hoping it’s not the last time they’re in a district final together.
“To get to a district final as a sophomore is invaluable,” Hazard said. “Our underclassmen are special, and if they keep working at it we’ll be back.”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: No. 1 Lutheran West beats Akron East in boys basketball district final
