High school basketball: Black River boys rally to force overtime, but fall to Firelands

SULLIVAN TWP. — The Black River boys basketball team easily could have phoned it in but instead dialed up a comeback. Trailing by 12 with 5:52 to play, the Pirates unleashed a furious rally to force overtime against Firelands, but the Falcons held them off for a 57-52 Lorain County League win Friday evening. "I think we just pushed each other on a different level, a level we haven't reached before," said Black River's Johnny Kray, who posted a monster double-double with career highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds while playing solid defense down the stretch. "I think we trusted each other tonight. I don't think we've trusted each other to our limit, but tonight we came together. We've had some rough losses, but we wanted this bad. We're definitely heading in the right direction." Black River (4-15, 1-12) had a number of contributors to the rally, but it started with Cayden Hinderman-Powell finding his stroke from 3-point range at the right time. He buried back-to-back threes at the start of the second half and scored all 14 of his points in the final two quarters and overtime. Firelands (5-15, 4-8) still led all of regulation and took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter that Black River whittled down to 45-33 thanks to back-to-back layups by Kray. Eric Groesser picked a great time to get hot, delivering his only two field goals — both from 3-point range — to get Black River within six points for the first time since the first quarter. "This is going to help a lot," Hinderman-Powell said. "It was a close game. (Firelands) is good even though their record isn't as good. Going into the postseason, I think we can do some damage." Groesser fouled out with 2:57 left and Black River trailing by eight after the Falcons spilt the ensuing free throws. The Falcons trapped Kray hard in the corner, but he slipped free for a crazy finish at the rim that dropped in and converted the free throw to bring Black River within five at 1:59. Hinderman-Powell came up with a steal and found Kray at the top of the arc, and Kray beat his defender and pulled up for a jumper that got the Pirates back within one possession for the first time since 4:32 of the opening quarter. Evan Ladina intercepted a Firelands pass in transition and found Kray under the hoop, but the latter couldn't finish. Fortunately for the Pirates, Logan Clifford secured the putback, making it 47-46 with 40 seconds to play. Firelands split a pair of free throws, giving Black River the ball with 26.2 seconds left. Kray missed a jumper, but Hinderman-Powell was there for the rebound and went back up to tie the game. The Falcons had 6.2 seconds to answer, but Anthony Januzzi missed a contested layup. Black River took its only lead of the evening when Hinderman-Powell opened overtime by splitting two free throws. Brock Grude (15 points, 7 rebounds) buried a wide-open three from the corner and the Falcons hit their free throws down the stretch to hold off the Pirates. "We're starting to see some of the guys come together and play well," Black River coach J.R. Wilson said. "We've got a good, young core of guys who are starting to play some good basketball." Contact Chris Sweeney at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter. Firelands 57, Black River 52 (OT) FIRELANDS 16 14 13 5 9 — 57 BLACK RIVER 8 6 16 18 4 — 52 Firelands — Brock Grude 5-3-15, Nate Draga 2-2-7, Austin Copen 4-0-10, Chris Radman 1-4-6, Anthony Januzzi 4-0-9, Niko Gotsis 2-1-5, Timmy Phillips 0-1-1, Gary Uhler 2-0-4, Gabe Gargasz 0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-11-57. Black River — Johnny Kray 6-5-18, Ridge Martin 0-0-0, Cayden Hinderman-Powell 5-1-14, Logan Clifford 1-0-2, Andon O'Neal 3-0-6, Eric Groesser 2-0-6, Evan Ladina 1-2-4, Peter Jeske 0-0-0, Daniel Jeske 1-0-2, Blake Hopkins 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-8-52. 3-point goals — Copen 2, Grude 2, Draga, Januzzi, Hinderman-Powell 3, Groesser 2, Kray. Rebounds — Firelands 32 (Draga 9, Grude 7), Black River 36 (Kray 12, Groesser 6). Records — Firelands (5-15, 4-8), Black River (4-15, 1-12).