Lake County Sentinel
Blue Devils hold off Dragons for 68-62 win
BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
On Tuesday night the Wickliffe Blue Devils Boys Basketball team opened their season at the Wickliffe Gymnasium, and they welcomed the Horizon Science Academy Dragons. The Blue Devils had never lost to the Dragons entering the game. The Blue Devils remain undefeated against the Dragons, but the game was much closer than in the past as the Devils held off the Dragons 68-62.
Neither team could get the lid off the basket early in the game as the first points came with 4:39 left on the first quarter clock when the Dragon’s J’Lun Lewis hit a layup giving Horizon a 2-0 lead. The Blue Devils tied the game at the 3:52 mark of the quarter when Senior Guard Anthony Olsen hit a jumper. Wickliffe then took the lead and never relinquished it sixteen second later, when the Blue Devils stole the ball and Olsen hit a three point basket to put Wickliffe on top 5-2. The Dragons closed to 5-4 at the 3:15 mark when Senior Javion King hit two free throws. The Blue Devils then went on a 6-0 run with field goals by Junior Brenton Petras and Senior Danny Byrne and two free throws by Junior Isaiah Bolon to extend the Wickliffe lead to 11-4. The Blue Devils further increased their lead to nine points with a 16-7 advantage at the end of the first period. Olsen led all scorers with five in the first eight minutes.
The Blue Devils extended their lead to 12 points at 39-27 at halftime by shooting 69% (9 for 13) in the second quarter led by Olsen and Junior Chase Fortkamp who had six points each in the quarter. Dragon’s Sophomore Deovian Edwards led all scorers in the quarter with nine points on three, three pointers. The Blue Devils shot 60% (15 for 25) in the first half while turning the ball over nine times and pulling down only five rebounds. Meanwhile the Dragons shot 37% (10 for 27) with 10 turnovers and seven boards.
The third was a different story as the Dragon’s played the Blue Devils even as each team scored 15 points in the quarter. Edwards led the Dragons and all scorers in the third with seven points. Bolon led the Blue Devils with six points. Both teams were 6 for 17 from the field (35%). The Blue Devils controlled the boards with seven rebounds while the Dragons managed to pull down only two. Turnovers continued to be a problem for both teams. Wickliffe gave the ball away seven times while the Dragons gave Wickliffe six gifts in the quarter.
The game took an interesting turn in the fourth quarter as the Dragon heated up from three point range hitting four and pulling to within four points at 66-62 with :32.8 left on the game clock. Wickliffe was able to run the clock down and with :07.4 left Olsen hit two free throws to extend the Blue Devils lead to 68-62 which was eventually the final score.
Edwards led all scorers with 16 points in the game in the losing effort. Senior Brenton Petras led Wickliffe in scoring with 15 points.
The Blue Devils won a close battle on the boards with 17 while the Dragons pulled down 16. The final turnover numbers were even as each team turned the ball over 19 times in the game.
The Blue Devils will be in action next on Friday at Berkshire on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Dragons play next at Parma at 7:30 p.m. next Tuesday.
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @IndiansTim Check out our High School Scoreboard
POSTED 12/03/2019 23:53
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