Cleveland Heights Boys' Basketball Team Off and Running

There’s no point in holding back from saying it these days – Cleveland Heights sports are hot.

Perhaps you can trace it to the or the defeat of highly-ranked Magnificat earlier this week, but the Heights gym simmered with more emotion and anticipation than normal for the boys’ basketball home opener on Friday night.

With football coach Jeff Rotsky sporting a commemorative jersey and girls’ coach Kim Hansen surveying the scene after Tuesday’s conquest, Heights guard had to rise to the challenge posed, not by Lakeside’s team, but by all the success that swelled around him.

Gaiter, tabbed as one of the best players in the area, gave strong indications that the boys’ team won’t be left behind as he rolled up a career-high 38 points stealing balls and stroking 3-pointers to lead the Tigers’ to a season-opening 84-67 win over the Dragons from Ashtabula.

Marcus Bagley, a sophomore running back on the exceedingly popular football team, had 19 points and Najeeb Johnson had 12 for the Tigers in the non-league contest. Cody Blizzard had 31 to lead the Dragons, while teammate Harry Story had 11.

With the final seconds ticking down, Gaiter got the ball one last time at half court and had that mischievous look in his eye. He seemingly pondered what it might feel like to reach 40 points with one heave toward the basket.

But a nearby official’s raised eyebrow stood as a plea for restraint, so the senior Gaiter thought the better of it and simply handed over the ball. After such a mighty debut, there’d certainly be more opportunities to score in other games.

A somewhat shy Gaiter could hear the thunder rolling in from the crowd and simply chose to play it cool.

“I just let the flow of the game come to me and was patient on offense,” Gaiter said. “I just didn’t rush and take bad shots.”

The night will also be remembered as as the Cleveland Heights basketball coach. Suttell, who coached at Euclid for the past three years, had a chance to witness Gaiter’s exploits in Lake Erie League competition.

“Ty is a special player. I’ve certainly known that as an opposing coach facing him. But certainly I’m glad to have him on my side this year. He’s a special kid, a special talent and a very special player,” Suttell said.

after the Tigers went 16-7 and reached the Division I district semifinals where they lost to then No. 1 state-ranked Garfield Heights, 59-40, last season.

Although Suttell’s time as coach has been brief, he can already feel the sensation and believes his players are taking it all in, too. The coach believes defeating Tuesday that did not count toward the Tigers’ record got them ready for Friday night.

“The atmosphere was great. It was an exciting situation for everyone and certainly the kids fed off of that and they did some good things,” Suttell said. “I don’t know about pressure, but you want to get your first win under your belt in a new program, definitely.”

The Cleveland Heights starting lineup features four seniors in Kevin Clark, Kojo Lockhart, Johnson and Gaiter.

“All four guys are experienced guys coming back. I think we’re pretty versatile with those guys. We’ve got some nice pieces coming off the bench. The other starter is a sophomore, Marcus Bagley. … He’s going to be one of those that you might not notice him playing, but at the end of the night, he’s going to have 15, 16 points,” Suttell said.

Junior Antonio Harper, the younger brother of girls’ basketball starting post player Jasmine Harper, will come off the bench to provide interior support. Harper scored five points Friday night.

While Cleveland Heights was clearly in control from the start, bad free throw shooting slowed the Tigers’ efforts and allowed the Dragons to stay in the game longer than necessary in the first half. The Tigers made only 6 of 17 from the charity stripe, while the Dragons made 13 of 16 and found themselves down, 42-31, at halftime.

After missing his first two shots of the third quarter, Gaiter exploded for 15 points, including four 3-pointers, and led the Tigers to a 69-48 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The Lakeside half of the gym steadily exited throughout the fourth quarter, but it seemed as though nobody moved on the home side of the gym. No one wants to miss out on Heights sports these days, not even for a moment.

Cleveland Heights hosts Geneva at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Lakeside                  10  21  17 19  67

Cleveland Heights   17  25  27 15 84

Lakeside – Bradley 5 points, Parks 4, Bahr 3, Story 11, Dean 6, McMullen 3, Blizzard 35.

Cleveland Heights – Gaiter 38 points, Bagley 19, Clark 3, Johnson 12, Lockhart 2, Davis 2, Cross 3, Harper 5.