PALMYRA, OH- The Crestwood Red Devils came into Tuesday night's contest at Southeast off to a 13-2 start on the season and riding a three game winning streak. In their way was the scrappy Pirates (7-7) and Portage County's leading scorer Garrett Sprutte who came into the contest averaging over 28 points per game.
The Pirates got off to a fast start that began with a Case Myers steal and breakaway layup for the first points of the game. After a James Durham bucket for the Red Devils put them up 5-4, Garrett Sprutte and Cohen Richardson put together a 9-0 Pirates run that put them up 13-5. They would hold a 17-8 lead after one quarter. Sprutte had 8 points and 8 rebounds in the opening quarter.
Garrett Sprutte - Southeast Pirates
Southeast continued to build their momentum in quarter two causing a quick timeout by Crestwood coach Josh Jakacki after Sprutte scored five straight points to put the Pirates up 22-8. It was a 9-0 run for Southeast going back to the end of the 1st quarter. A Charlie Schweickert three ball for Crestwood ended the run before Sprutte would score four straight to give the Pirates their biggest lead of the half at 26-11. The rest of the quarter was all Crestwood as they ended the half on a 9-0 run after turning up the defense and causing multiple Southeast turnovers. Southeast held a 26-20 lead at the half. Sprutte had a double/double at the half with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Augie Schweickert - Crestwood Red Devils
Crestwood started the 2nd half with an Augie Schweickert bucket that brought them within four at 26-22, the closest they had been since about three minutes into the start of the game. The Pirates answered with four straight points to push the lead to eight. From there it was a back and forth affair. With 4:25 remaining in the quarter, Zach Keto nailed a three ball for the Pirates putting them up nine at 37-28. Charlie Schweickert answered for Crestwood converting an and-one cutting the deficit to six. That's where it would stay the rest of the quarter as Southeast held a 43-37 lead.
Dekota Johnson - Crestwood Red Devils
The fourth quarter was one sided in favor of the Red Devils. They opened the final frame scoring the first nine points to take a 46-43 lead, their first lead since leading 5-4 in the first.
Garrett Sprutte would hit a big three with 4:50 left to tie it up at 46. The Pirates would only muster a Sprutte free throw the rest of the way as Crestwood outscored them 10-1 to put the game away with six of those points coming from James Durham. They would outscore Southeast 21-4 in the fourth quarter to take home the 58-47 win.
The win marked career coaching win #300 for Crestwood coach Josh Jakacki. I asked him after the game what the milestone meant to him.
"Relationships...you know I can tell you when I was a younger coach winning meant a lot more than anything," said Jakacki. "As you grow up and you get older, all that stuff pales in comparison to kids and relationships."
Charlie Schweickert scored 9 of high team high 21 points in the fourth quarter for Crestwood. James Durham was also big scoring 6 of his 13 in the fourth. I asked Schweickert about his performance.
"I felt like I really didn't shoot the ball all that great...I think I was maybe three of nine from three," said Schweickert. "I had a lot of looks that probably should have gone down and usually go down."
Garrett Sprutte was big in the loss for Southeast with 29 points and 15 rebounds.
The Red Devils (14-2) have a big one at Kirtland on Friday night with league championship ramifications. Southeast will look to bounce back at home against Mogadore.
Unofficial stats:
Crestwood:
Charlie Schweickert: 21 pts
James Durham: 13 pts, 4 reb
Brody Durham: 12 pts
Dekota Johnson: 7 pts
Southeast:
Garrett Sprutte: 29 pts, 15 reb
Cohen Richardson: 7 pts, 7 reb
Case Myers: 4 pts, 9 reb