The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
NDCL wins district semi in rout
NDCL’s range was nonexistent in the first half of its Division II district semifinal against Edgewood on March 7.
The Lions turned inward and built a halftime lead with work from around the rim. They hit a rhythm to open the third quarter on a run and continued to push.
NDCL won, 70-46, and advanced to the district final. The Lions will face second-seeded Ursuline on March 9.
NDCL didn’t record a 3-pointer in the first half. Its first fell midway through the third quarter. Despite being 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Lions made an impact defensively and on the glass.
They recorded 15 steals to get the game at the pace they were comfortable with. They grabbed 35 rebounds, which led to several second-chance looks. Coach Pat Vuyancih said the regular season challenges NDCL faced had them prepared for the pressure of the district semifinal.
“We have learned to play multiple ways this year,”
Vuyancih said. “We played games against Lutheran East who pounds it inside, St. Edward with multiple big guys, Barberton had a really good point guard, we’ve played multiple different ways. Some teams we’ve gone half court, some full court and run. Tonight it was the full-court pressure package, we felt that we could take advantage of their depth and get this game running up and down and wear them down.”
With leading scorer Evan Dugger out with a knee injury, Jaxon Mangelluzzi has been the go-to guy in the scoring department for NDCL. But against the Warriors, that responsibility fell to Connor Hernan.
The junior led all Lions scorers with 18 points, to go with eight rebounds.
“Our wins are always team wins,” Hernan said. “One guy isn’t going to score everything. While Jaxon may have had a quiet night, he was able to contribute in a lot of different fundamental ways. That’s how we are as a team. You can’t just shut down one guy, you have to shut us down completely. We’re going to come at you with everyone.”
Despite NDCL’s domination of the glass and tempo, Edgewood trailed by only four at the half. As the teams exited from intermission, the Lions got back on the ball defensively.
They forced six turnovers in the frame and went on a 15-5 run that pushed the lead to double figures.
Vuyancih changed a few things at the half defensively to increase the pressure, but his message remained the same as it had all week. The Lions had been in this situation a year ago against Canfield.
The Cardinals came back to win that game after NDCL had a halftime lead.
“It says a lot about the learning process,” Vuyancih said. “We told the guys that we were here last year, we lost our poise in the third quarter. We talked a lot about that this year, if we get a lead, keep your poise. They were going to make a run, just keep your cool. The kids did a lot better this year with the season we had of learning how to balance the poise and not let things get to them.”
Edgewood cut the lead to single digits on a Brady Andrejack 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the third. But NDCL responded with an inbounds pass to Connor Hernan, who was ahead of the defense for a breakaway layup that pushed it to 4837 to start the fourth.
NDCL also had Angelo Tamburino in double figures with 14 points, 10 in the second half, and Brendan Hernan with 10 points.
Connor Hernan highlighted his teammates’ ability to affect the game. Added with their youth — only one senior that sees the court — Connor Hernan said the Lions can make trips to the district final a habit rather than an upset.
“The team overall has better chemistry and built up the momentum that we needed,” Connor said. “It’s exciting. Once you get momentum like this, you have other players that are like, ‘How can I contribute? How can I be able to help take this team to the next level? It’s a snowball and it’s exciting for the program to be in these kinds of games.”
Edgewood was led by Logan Kray with 17 points and Jacob Ernst with 15 points, 10 in the second half.