Photo: Pittpicturesphotography
STOW, Ohio- The Nordonia Knights marched into Stow and fought until the final buzzer in their triumphant 49-46 upset win.
Nordonia's upset win headlines the night, but it was Reese Raymond-Smith's milestone that was the highlight of the night. Reese entered his name into Stow's record book once again, this time, it was becoming the 7th player in Stow history to reach the 1,000-point mark.
"Going into this game, we knew Reese would be hard to contain. Reese is one heck of a player. Being able to say you scored 1,000 points is something no one can take from you; a lot of respect for Reese." Coach Dominique Sanders said.
Nordonia moves to 2-0 against Stow on the season. Tonight's win snapped a four-game losing streak and gave the Knights some much-needed momentum and confidence going into the season's final stretch.
"The one thing we preached all week was returning to our roots." Coach Sanders noted. "We knew we had to get tonight's win. The last four losses were rough, but our boys turned it around tonight."
Tonight was a defensive battle, as the largest lead all night was held by Stow when they went up by 6 in the third quarter. Stow held a 20-19 advantage at halftime.
Nordonia capitalized on the Bulldogs' mistakes late in the second half. Stow was up 41-40 with about three minutes left in the 4th when the Knights caused a turnover. Nordonia was fouled and made one of the two free throws to tie the game up.
Quickly, Nordonia forced the Bulldogs into another turnover. This time, it was Trevor Turnbull hitting a three that would put the Knights ahead for good.
Reese Raymond-Smith had a game-high 22 points on the night. Trevor Turnbull led the Knights with 13 points, and Gianni Covelli added 11.
Coach David Close and the Bulldogs will travel to Akron to take on Coach Dru Joyce and the St. Vincent-St. Mary's Fighting Irish on Tuesday, Jan. 30. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Coach Dominique Sanders and his Knights will travel to Brunswick on Tuesday, Jan. 30. Tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.