WILLARD — Seneca East shocked the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this basketball season. Now the Tigers want to shock the world.
Seneca East (21-5) knocked off perennial district titleholder Colonel Crawford 44-38 in a boys Division IV championship game Friday night at a packed Bob Haas Gymnasium.
The Tigers have already gone further than most observers thought possible. Up next is a huge challenge in Richmond Heights in Canton next Tuesday at 6 p.m. in a regional semifinal.
“I told them they’re going to down as the best team to ever play basketball at Seneca East. You can check the boxes. League championship (a 4-way tie), sectional championship, district championship. Twenty-plus wins.
“I mean, all the boxes are checked. Case closed,” Tigers head coach Anthony Langhurst said as his team celebrated its first district title.
Seneca East was in its first district title game since 1985 a first district tournament appearance since 1991.
It also marks was the third win over the Eagles this season and Langhurst became only the second coach to do that to a David Sheldon-coached team.
“We just told them beforehand — no one’s ever done this before, you have an opportunity to be legendary — just try to go out, take it, enjoy the environment, and play as hard as you can,” Langhurst said.
“We’re just gonna treat it like any other on the schedule. We’ve got competitors. I think they’ll be excited for the opportunity. Are we going to compete for a couple possessions, one quarter, four quarters, whatever. We’ll enjoy this night and get a look at them and try to prepare as best we can.”
Lucas Bordner scored 12 points and added 2 rebounds and 7 steals for the Tigers. Several of the steals were converted into baskets.
Aidan Hines and Luke Mason added 8 points each and Blake Foos and Lucas Hicks 7 apiece. Foos added 8 rebounds.
“There was a buzz in the community. There was a buzz at school. Our student section is second to none these last few weeks,” Langhurst said.
Top seed Colonel Crawford (18-7) was plagued by 16 turnovers. Seneca East led 12-11 after one quarter and trailed 18-15 at halftime after a slow-paced second quarter.
Both teams were cold and combined to shoot 2-20 from the field in that quarter.
Colonel Crawford sophomore post Payne DeGray got into foul trouble and picked up his third foul with 2:03 left in the first half. He was held to 3 points, 3 rebounds and a blocked shot.
“I take the blame in the second quarter, I shouldn’t have put him back in,” Sheldon said. “It’s a two-point game and he gets his third, and he just he was in foul trouble all night long.”
DeGray picked up his fourth with 6 minutes left in the game and fouled out with Crawford trailing 38-34 and 2:15 on the game clock.
“He’s a double-double guy, and we know our top two,” Sheldon said. “Trevor (Vogt) laid it all out there, but it’s hard to score when you’re on the bench and in foul trouble. We’re up eight going into the fourth and then we have live ball turnovers. We had six turnovers that led to scores, we can’t say it was defense. And we missed a lot around the rim.”
Vogt led the Eagles with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.
“That’s a very good basketball team. That team put the basketball program on the map,” Sheldon said. “They played their tails off, they were co-champs with us, it’s just a very good basketball team.
“This was neat for the Seneca East community. They have more people in here because this is their first time experiencing it. You look at our community, and we’re spoiled all the time because we’ve been here.”
After scoring just 21 points in the first 24 minutes, the Tigers erupted for 23 in the final period. That quarter featured several ties and lead changes going from 31-31 to a four-point lead by Seneca East. Hicks scored off a Foos assist.
Vogt scored inside, giving Crawford a 34-33 lead with 3:10 to play. But Bordner’s basket, two Foos free throws and one by Mason sealed the game.
“In my 18 years I’m just blessed and thank God for this group. Ryan (McMichael) and Trevor were the only one’s back, and Trevor really the only one to play much. We live in a day and age where some people don’t want to be part of something bigger than themselves,” Sheldon said.
“They left a legacy, and I’ll be forever grateful for those two guys. It’s going to be hard to replace them because they brought the toughness of this basketball team.”
Bordner said he and his teammates understood the enormity of what transpired.
“Going into the game it was obviously a huge game for us. We knew beating them a third time would be a hard thing to do. But we came in here locked in. We came out kind of sloppy honestly. We were settling for shots we knew we couldn’t make, and you can’t do that Crawford’s to defense,” he said.
“The second and third quarters we weren’t scoring anything so that fourth quarter we came out and knew we had to get things rolling or our season would be over. It’s all about trust with our team.”
Bordner said he knew there was doubt about Seneca East’s chances this season.
“We really didn’t allow that to get into our heads at all. We just said we’ve got to be ourselves, come out and play physical. We wanted to come in here and show people what we’re made of.”
Regarding the steals of errant Colonel Crawford passes, Bordner said it’s mostly instinctive.
“I play down, and I try to keep the corner clear to make sure I’m back there in time. When we’re trapping I gotta make sure I know that I can read their eyes. That’s what we’re all about — being a transition-type team that likes to get up and down.”
Up next: A tall task
The Tigers’ next opponent also likes to push the basketball and has several players 6-foot-5 or taller.
Richmond Heights beat Cornerstone Christian 95-54 to capture its district title Friday night in Akron.
Five players scored in double figures for Richmond Heights, led by senior Jeremy Wilson with 19. Hosea Steele (17), De’Erick Barber (16), Dorian Jones (15) and Braylen Salters (11) joined him.
Wilson is 6-foot-6, Jones and Steele both 6-foot-5.
The Spartans are two-time defending Division IV state champions.
Box score
Seneca East 44, Colonel Crawford 38
Seneca East 12 3 6 23 — 44
Colonel Crawford 11 7 11 9 — 38
Seneca East (21-5): Shots 14-40; 3-pt. shots 3-16 (Luke Mason, Lucas Bordner, Lucas Hicks); Free throws 13-17; Rebounds 22 (Blake Foos 8); Turnovers 8. Scoring: Aidan Hines 2 4 8, Luke Mason 3 1 8, Lucas Bordner 5 1 12, Blake Foos 1 5 7, Lucas Hicks 2 2 7, Keeno Ruffing 1 0 2.
Colonel Crawford: (18-7): Shots 12-35; 3-pt. shots 5-17 (Trevor Vogt 3, Logan Goddard, Lucas Foy); Free throws 9-12; Rebounds 29 (Trevor Vogt 10); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Logan Goddard 1 0 3, Trevor Vogt 5 3 16, John DeGray 3 1 7, Lucas Foy 1 0 3, Connor McMichael 1 0 2, Ryan McMichael 2 0 4, Payne DeGray 0 3 3.