MANTUA, OH- On Saturday afternoon two Portage County rivals went to battle at Crestwood High School when the Red Devils played host to the Mogadore Wildcats. The Red Devils were looking to move to 3-0 on the season while the Wildcats were looking for win number two.
It was a sluggish start offensively for both squads as they went scoreless through the first three plus minutes of the opening quarter. The Red Devils finally got on the board after Ty Fanin split a pair of free throws and Charlie Schweickert nailed a three ball at the 4:10 mark. A Dekota Johnson deep ball gave Crestwood a 13-3 lead with just over two minutes left. The Red Devils led 13-5 after one.
Crestwood scored the first four points of the second quarter taking their biggest lead at 17-5. Mogadore came back with four points of their own to take the deficit back down to 8 before Charlie Schweickert went on his own little 5-0 run to push the Red Devils lead out to 22-9. Crestwood took a double digit lead into halftime at 24-13. Schweikert led the Devils with 8 first half points.
The third quarter was intense and high scoring for both teams. Mogadore scored 6 of the first 8 points to close the gap under double digits at 26-19. The Red Devils were able to push it back out to double digits after a Brody Durham three ball made it a 37-24 Devils lead. But the Wildcats were able to put together an 8-2 run capped off by a Nick Stephenson and one bucket and free throw cutting the Crestwood lead to 39-32 with 2:30 to play in the third. Thirty seconds later Layne Miller hit a shot from deep brining Mogadore within 6 at 41-35 with 1:55 to play in the quarter.
Mogadore's Layne Miller squares up for a three point attempt vs Crestwood
Unfortunately for the Wildcats it's as close as they would get the rest of the game. Crestwood ended the third on a 7-2 run taking a 48-37 lead into the fourth quarter. The teams combined for 48 points. Dekota Johnson came alive for the Red Devils in this quarter putting up 14 points.
Crestwood's Dekota Johnson goes up for a shot against Mogadore
Crestwood would put the game away at the start of the fourth quarter as they scored the first 10 points pushing the lead out to 21 at 58-37. After a Stephenson bucket inside for the Wildcats, Crestwood scored the next six for their biggest lead of the game at 64-39 with just over two minutes to play. Both teams pulled the starters as the outcome of this one had been decided. Crestwood notched a big home win over Mogadore 66-44 to move to 3-0 on the season.
After winning all of five games during the 2022/23 season, the Red Devils look like a completely different squad this season. I asked Dekota Johnson about the key to their turnaround so far this season.
"I mean really Brody coming up as a freshman, he's really showing himself," said Johnson. "Charlie (Schweickert) is really shooting the ball well. Ty and Augie are great defenders, Ty's scoring, and we are all looking great."
Crestwood is back home to host Berkshire on 12/13 while Mogadore looks to rebound at Warren JKF on 12/15.
Unofficial stats:
Crestwood:
Dekota Johnson: 27 pts, 9 reb
Brody Durham: 13 pts, 4 reb, 4 three pointers
Charlie Schweickert: 13 pts
James Durham: 8 pts, 5 reb
Mogadore:
Layne Miller: 13 pts
Nick Stephenson: 11 pts, 13 reb