Rocky River, Ohio- The Maple Mustangs (3-1) traveled to Rocky River to square off against Lutheran West (3-1). In their matchup last year Lutheran West came out on top in a grueling 60-59 contest. Tonight, the Longhorns ended on top 63-54 to extend their win streak against Maple to three.
Both teams struggled early. Lutheran West got numerous good looks but just couldn’t capitalize. Maple established a fast tempo while using their full court press and bringing intensity on defense. Head Coach Jordan Duke was impressed with his team’s effort in the win.
“They do a good job of playing hard and trying to take you out of what you like to do. We knew that was going to happen tonight. And I’m just proud of our guys for sticking in and sticking to the fight,” said Duke.
Maple led 7-5 with three minutes left in the first after a few layups from Darien Lemons. Davan Aniton finished a thunderous alley dunk near the end of the quarter.
He fouled Ryan Calo at the buzzer on a three point attempt. Calo knocked down two of the free throws putting the Longhorns up 13-12.
Lutheran West started to get going around the rim but continued to stay cold from three. Maple continued to speed Lutheran West up and force turnovers.
They also got a few key three pointers from multiple guys in the quarter. Kaelon Hurt knocked down two in a row to put them up 25-24 with one minute left. The Mustangs went into the half leading 27-24.
The Longhorns started to get going in the third. They forced several turnovers in the period and held Maple to eight points. Matt Meyer scored eight in the quarter.
“Well the game plan for me was just to attack them the whole game. And I really turned up after the half because I realized I wasn’t doing that enough…I knew I had to go to work,” said Meyer.
He scored a couple of buckets down low to push Lutheran West’s lead to 38-32 with three minutes to go. Maple’s cold spell from three ended after Mike Banks hit one at the one minute mark of the quarter. His shot cut the lead to 40-35, they went into the fourth trailing 44-35.
The Longhorns started to pull away in the fourth but Maple fought until the very end. Halfway through the quarter they cut the lead to 48-42 after a floater from Hurt. Lutheran West stayed aggressive, looking for paint opportunities. They were able to knock down several huge free throws down the stretch to close out the game.
The Longhorns will be back in action Dec. 20 7:00 p.m. at Hoban.
Scoring Leaders:
Longhorns: Meyer: 21 points
Calo/Mcguinea: 10 points
Mustangs:
Hurt: 12 points
Aniton/Allen: 9 points
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