[ back ]
Tigers earn praise in district basketball run
(by Steve Novak - March 18, 2009)
Tigers earn praise in district basketball run
By STEVE NOVAK
At the end of the Chagrin Falls boys' basketball team's progression through the March playoffs, head coach Dave Bargar had nothing but praise for the team.
The praise was earned, as the numbers clearly showed. With a final record of 18-6, it was the most wins for a Chagrin Falls boys' basketball team since 1988. Bargar also said it was also the team's first appearance in the district playoffs since 1996.
The season came to an end last Thursday night when a Akron East executed a game plan which cut into the bread and butter of the Tigers' offensive talents. The game plan was successful enough to lead East to a 66-46 victory over Chagrin Falls in a Division II district semifinal game at Stow.
"They contested everything we were doing," Bargar said. "They did a good job of keeping us away from the basket."
Tight defensive coverage from the beginning of the contest held the Tigers to only eight points in the first quarter and seven points in the second period. Bargar said East was adept at boxing out the middle to prevent his players from getting rebounds on the offensive end of the action.
"They're a team that jumps very well," Bargar said. "We didn't have a chance to get any offensive rebounds."
While Chagrin Falls was being held to fewer than 10 points in each of the first two periods, East had little trouble in putting the ball into the basket. East led 16-8 after one period and 29-15 at halftime.
In the second half, Bargar said he was forced to spread out his half-court defensive alignment because East had already done so well in its outside shooting.
"They shot the ball very well in the first half," he said. "We had to extend our coverage. We aren't very comfortable when we do that."
The result was that East was still able to outscore the Tigers. In the third period, East scored 13 points, compared to only nine points for Chagrin. The Orientals had a 42-24 lead at the end of three periods.
Trailing by double digits, Chagrin Falls faced the prospect of having eight more minutes of playing time left to try to catch up to a team which hadn't yet showed a weakness. Chagrin Falls erupted for 22 points in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, East did better, scoring 24 points.
Connor Clegg led Chagrin Falls with 12 points. Matt Diles added 11 points, while Sam Schiferl, the team's leading scorer during the regular season, was held to only five points.
The Tigers began the current season after losing six seniors from the 2007-2008 team and the team will lose six players agains to graduation. THree are seniors starters Sean Keunzig, Dan Mignogna and Diles.
Bargar said a big part of the team's success came from the players believing in themselves, no matter what type of opponent they faced.
"The confidence this year has been tremendous," he said. "All through the season, they believed they were gong to win every time they stepped on the court."
When Schiferl returns next season, he will only be a junior. Another returnee next season will be Clegg, who is a junior this year. Schiferl led the team with an 11.8 points per game average. Diles was second at an average of 11 points per game and led the team in rebounds, with an average of about eight per game.
Bargar said one of the more difficult tasks next season will be to rekindle the confidence and spirit that guided this year's squad.
"Statistically, we'll be able to replace them, but there's always those intangibles, and you don't know what you're going to get," he said. "The competitiveness of this team needs to rub off on the younger kids. We're going to lose the terrific leadership of those seniors. We need to replace that."
[ back ]
