High school basketball/Canton Timken 53, Cuyahoga Falls 49: Trojans end Black Tigers’ stellar season in Division I district semifinal By Jeff Brewer Special to the Beacon Journal More Sharing Services 2 Published: March 6, 2014 - 10:21 PM | Updated: March 7, 2014 - 07:49 AM RELATED STORIES High school basketball/ CVCA 59, Archbishop Hoban 56: Royals knock off Knights, advance to Division II district final CANTON: The Cuyahoga Falls boys basketball faithful had their hearts broken Thursday night by a fearless sophomore from Canton Timken. Terrel Lipkins, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and overtime in leading the Trojans to a thrilling 53-49 win over the Black Tigers in a Division I district semifinal at the Canton Memorial Civic Center. The shot Cuyahoga Falls coach Rob Slone will see in his sleep came off the hand of Lipkins with one minute left in overtime. The Black Tigers (17-8), making their first district tournament appearance since 2006 and having overcome a miserable shooting game, seemed poised to knock out the defending district champs. But Lipkins sank an NBA-distance 3-point shot from in front of his team’s bench to tie the score 48-48. “I didn’t look [at the 3-point line],” Lipkins said. “It didn’t matter. I just needed to shoot it and make it for my team.” Lipkins and freshman guard Darryl Straughter (15 points) combined to score 29 points and offset the absence of Timken’s best player Le’pear Toles, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, who averaged 22 points per game this season and watched from the sideline with a boot on his right foot. “We never try to limit guys who can shoot,” Timken coach Rick Hairston said. “T.J. Lipkins can shoot the ball. Darryl Straughter can shoot the ball.” Straughter sank three 3-point goals and Lipkins connected on two for Timken’s five. The Black Tigers shot 0-of-12 from beyond the arc. The two youngsters also converted 5-of-6 free-throw attempts in the closing seconds to seal the win for Timken (19-4), which will meet Jackson for the district title at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Civic Center. “They are fearless,” Hairston said of his backcourt. “What should they worry about?” And that really was the difference in the game. At the end of regulation and again in the final minute of overtime, a senior-laden Falls team struggled to execute and it proved to be a crushing end to the best season of basketball at Cuyahoga Falls since 1990 — the last team to win 20 games. “These guys know what’s on the line if you lose this basketball game,” Slone said. “They don’t want to turn their stuff in. I think a lot of it was they are in the district semis for the first time as a group of kids. The game was big and they played it like it was big. There are thousands of excuses I could make, but they hit more shots than we did, and that’s the bottom line.” Falls senior post Angelo Cugini had 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Black Tigers also received 13 points apiece from seniors Josh Ricker and Jay Slone. Falls missed its first eight shots from the floor and that was the theme of the night. “These guys have done a lot for Falls basketball,” Slone said. “They won a league title [NOC River] and no one can take that away from them.” Canton Division I District CANTON TIMKEN 53, CUYAHOGA FALLS 49 (OT) Cuyahoga Falls 12 81310 6—49 Timken 1110121010—53 CUYAHOGA FALLS (17-8) — Tyler Adams 0-2-2, Jay Slone 5-3-13, Allen Gera 1-1-3, Simon Moskowitz 1-0-2, Josh Ricker 4-5-13, Angelo Cugini 7-2-16. Totals: 18-13-49. TIMKEN (19-4) — Darryl Straughter 4-4-15, Tave’ Hill 3-0-6, Randee Reed 5-2-12, Terrel Lipkins 4-4-14, Quentin Hamilton 1-0-2, Clevon Pleasant 2-0-4. Totals: 19-10-53. 3-point goals: Straughter 3, Lipkins 2. Fouls: Tim., 16-10.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:39:40 +0000
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