Cleveland Heights Boys' Basketball Season Ends in District Play

A gleeful coach Sonny Johnson said last week his  in the Division I district semifinals.

Well, it sure didn’t look like it Wednesday night.

Despite the trash talk and a final score that might indicate it was less of a contest than it actually was, the state’s No. 1 boys’ basketball team in Division I came away with a 59-40 victory over the Tigers that wasn’t truly secure until deep into the fourth quarter at Solon High School.

With a quick burst to open the third, the Tigers drew within two points of the Bulldogs, but Garfield’s superior size, speed and skill put down the threat almost immediately.

Nonetheless, Garfield Heights didn’t find itself with a comfortable 12-point margin until just over a minute remained in the game. The Bulldogs knocked down almost all of their free throws in the final 1:47, making 11-of-12 down the stretch to close the game.

Trey Lewis had 18 points to lead the Bulldogs, while Tony Farmer posted 17. Garfield Heights (21-1) finished No. 1 in the Associated Press Division I boys’ basketball poll and its only loss came in the final game of the season at Strongsville, 86-79. Cody Martin led the Tigers (16-7) with 15 points.

Johnson relented some from his comments after last week’s sectional games, but not much.

“It was fun,” Johnson said. “Anytime you can compete against a really good team, an athletic team, it’s really fun.”

Johnson insisted he wasn’t being arrogant, but merely pumping up his team, getting them to believe they could be the dominant team he sees in them.

“I told the guys before (the game), we should beat them by 15 to 20 points,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t arrogance. … I knew it could be a closer game. But I wanted to give them the confidence that I believed they could do something they probably didn’t think they could do.”

Johnson’s words didn’t affect the outcome much in Cleveland Heights coach Barry Egan’s eyes. He said his team’s lack of good play was more the culprit than any amount of spoken words.

“Our kids don’t talk trash. Our kids just want to go out and play," Egan said. "We just did not play well. You guys make out the trash talk. You watch our kids play on the floor. You never see them say anything. … Tonight we got into a situation where we couldn’t get over the hump.”

Down, 22-9, at 6:04 of the second quarter, the Tigers went on an 11-4 run to close out the half. Martin sank a pair of baskets, including a spinning one-hander in the lane to draw the Tigers to 24-17. After a Farmer score, Tyree Gaiter got smacked on a bank shot that went down the twine, and he converted at the line to bring the Tigers within 26-20 at the half.

Carrying that momentum into the third quarter, Martin put in a layup and Gaiter made one of his own off a steal to draw the Tigers within two at 26-24 at 7:35.

But Farmer answered with a score and then Cleveland Heights’ Maurice O’Field fouled Adam Barbour on a driving layup that sent him to the line, where he converted the three-point play for a 31-24 lead. Farmer slammed down an alley-oop pass from Lewis for a 33-24 lead to momentarily subdue the Tigers at 6:05 of the third.

Down, 40-29, the Tigers made a mini-rally as Kojo Lockhart had a score and Aaron Ashley netted a 3-pointer to draw to 40-34 at 1:49 of the third, but Barbour answered with the Bulldogs’ only 3-pointer of the game to stem the tide.

The Bulldogs’ lead didn’t stretch beyond 11 points in the early going of the fourth quarter, keeping the game within reach.  Down, 46-36, O’Field made a pair of free throws to draw within eight at 5:44, but the Tigers couldn’t score on four straight possessions.

Kenny Simpson blocked a Martin shot and Ashley and Gaiter each missed on three-point attempts. The Tigers had a basket called off on a foul that knocked Farmer to the floor and out of the game at 2:07. Johnson said Farmer had a cramp in his left thigh but labeled the injury as minor.

The Tigers never threatened thereafter.

The Tigers were forced to put the Bulldogs at the charity stripe where Lewis made 8-of-8 and threw in a layup for good measure in the remaining 1:47.  

“It was a hype game, a lot of hype, but we’ve been in that situation before,” Lewis said. “We knew we were the better team.  … We didn’t play our best, but we did well to win by 19 points.”

The Tigers' best highlight of the first half came when O'Field splashed in a three-point buzzer beater from half court to end the first quarter with the Tigers down, 16-9.

Cleveland Heights  40

Garfield Heights     59

CHHS 9 11 14 6 40

GHHS 16 10 17 16 59

Cleveland Heights:  Cody Martin 15, Tyree Gaiter 7, Maurice O’Field 5, Aaron Ashley 5, Kojo Lockhart 4, Najeeb Johnson 2, Kevin Clark 2.

Garfield Heights: Trey Lewis 18, Tony Farmer 17, Adam Barbour 8, Mike Davis 7, Mike McQueen 4, Jermaine Davis 2, Terrill Byrd 2, Lloyd Henry 1.