Cleveland Heights Boys' Basketball Rolls Over Bedford

Garfield Heights coach Sonny Johnson couldn’t contain the smile emanating from his face.

While watching Cleveland Heights slowly but surely subdue Bedford in a sectional final game at Solon High School on Friday night, the coach of the division’s top-seeded team offered his unequivocal opinion of a matchup against the Tigers.

“We’re going to have a good time,” he said. “Make sure you put that in there.”

Let the games, both psychological and physical, begin.

In the de facto preliminary game leading up to the real one on Wednesday at 7 p.m., Cleveland Heights handled Bedford, 68-56. Maurice O’Field scored 22 points to lead the Tigers (16-5). Tyree Gaiter and Cody Martin each had 11, while Aaron Ashley had 10. Ryan Holt had 21 to lead the Bearcats (8-14).

Cleveland Heights has a tall order in front of them to say the least. Not only is Garfield Heights (20-1) the top seed for the Solon district, but they finished No. 1 in the Associated Press Division I boys’ basketball poll for Ohio. They also topped the Plain Dealer’s year-end poll.

Needless to say, Johnson is confident for a reason.  And for the record, they dropped Warren Howland, 85-62, in the night’s opener. Cleveland Heights coach Barry Egan winced a bit after hearing about Johnson’s barb, but didn’t take the bait.

“Well, OK. I don’t know what to say to that,” Egan said. “But we’re going to come out and play. All of our kids know one another. Sonny’s a good friend of ours, and it just so happens we play each other on Wednesday.”

O’Field’s certainly ready to face some of his friends Wednesday, some of whom he knows from AAU basketball.

“Sonny, we know each other well. Me and Tony Farmer, we’re best friends, basically. We’re going to West Virginia this weekend for a visit. On Wednesday, it’s going to be about focusing in and trying to win,” O’Field said.

For a while, Bedford, the presumed sacrificial lamb, took its sweet time getting to the chopping block. For a half, it looked like the Bearcats just might pull the upset trailing by only two at halftime, 34-32.

After a Chris Carter free throw drew the Bearcats to 34-33, the Tigers exploded for 11 unanswered points.

Martin converted a free throw for a three-point play and then slammed home a score to establish Cleveland Heights’ physical dominance over Bedford. O’Field topped Martin with a dunk of his own, a free throw and a 3-pointer to cap the run for a 45-33 lead at 4:31 of the third quarter.

The Bearcats would get no closer than eight points, and Cleveland Heights had 15 points for its largest lead several times throughout the remainder of the game.

In the early going, Tyree Gaiter got Cleveland Heights off to a hot start, canning two 3-pointers to give the Tigers an early 6-0 advantage, but Bedford rallied quickly to take the lead as Holt knocked down a 3-pointer and J.J. Woodson had a pair of buckets to go up, 7-6, at 5:31.

Bedford continued its surge with a 4-0 run only to see Cleveland Heights match the run and take the lead on Kojo Lockhart’s bucket at 13-11. After Bedford tied the score, O’Field hit a 3-pointer and then extended the Tigers’ lead with a pair of free throws for an 18-13 edge.

But after a Brian Carter score put the Tigers up seven, Bedford answered with two scores of its own to draw to 20-17. An Ashley 3-pointer gave the Tigers a 23-17 cushion at the end of the quarter.

The Tigers couldn’t pull away in the second, although it appeared they might do so early.  O’Field netted a 3-pointer to give the Tigers their biggest lead of the game at that point, 26-17. But Bedford responded with a 10-2 run that Holt highlighted with back-to-back 3-pointers to draw to 28-27. While Bedford never regained the lead, they closed within one point once more on an Antonio Rucker 3-pointer for 31-30 just before the half.

Bedford     56

Cleveland Heights   68

BHS      17 15 11 13 56

CHHS  23 11 20 14 68

Bedford: Ryan Holt 21, Jared Simpson 5, Myles Hilliard 2, Chris Carter 7, J.J. Woodson 6, Antonio Rucker 9, Ryan Johnson 6.

Cleveland Heights:  Najeeb Johnson 6, Maurice O’Field 22, Kevin Clark 4, Kojo Lockhart 2, Tyree Gaiter 11, Aaron Ashley 10, Brian Carter 2, Cody Martin 11.