High school basketball: Reimer Road Baptist Christian boys step in to matchup against Shaker Heights

LAKEMORE — Set to rejoin the powerful Greater Cleveland Conference in 2023-24, the Shaker Heights boys basketball team was supposed to play Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy on Saturday in the the final game of the inaugural Jimmy Gooden Basketball Classic at Springfield High. When CVCA withdrew, event organizers tried to convince 2022 Division II regional finalist Louisville to switch opponents and play the Red Raiders, but the Leopards declined. In stepped Reimer Road Baptist Christian. Playing against an accomplished Shaker Heights program that reached the 2020 D-I regional finals before the coronavirus pandemic prematurely ended that season, the Golden Eagles ultimately lost 95-57, but they trailed by just 10 points at halftime in their only scheduled game against an Ohio High School Athletic Association public school this season. A club team that normally competes against small Christian schools throughout Northern Ohio, Reimer Road (2-1) committed 42 turnovers against Shaker Heights (2-1), which pressed after makes and misses from the opening tip until the final buzzer, but Dan Turner's players exited after 10:30 p.m. knowing they had given a great account of themselves. "It was intense," said Golden Eagles point guard Seth Griswald, who scored all eight of his points in the second period after suffering a sprained ankle. "They were all over the place, but they were smart. It was controlled chaos. "The first half was good if not better than we expected," he added of his team's 47-37 deficit. "The second half wasn't our best, but overall we stayed with it and played pretty well." That the Golden Eagles did behind 17 points, four rebounds and two assists from shooting guard Matt Fahey and eight points and a game-high nine rebounds from power forward Sully Chadbourne, who were among the leading scorers on Wadsworth's junior varsity team last season. Reimer Road, which finished 21-6 overall and lost in the Independent Christian Schools of Ohio state championship last season but is now competing as an independent team, also got eight points and five boards from small forward Ryan Haic, six points and four rebounds from center Tyler Most, four points, four rebounds and three assists from reserve Isaiah Ballard and four points, three boards and two assists off the bench from Chance Few. The Golden Eagles, who attacked throughout and got a number of layups when they broke the Red Raiders' press, departed proud of how they had performed, yet very complimentary of Shaker Heights' talent, physical style and relentlessness. "They put a lot more pressure on us than we were used to," Fahey said. "We weren't used to people being that athletic." Shaker Heights got 34 points, eight rebounds and two assists from small forward Kellon Smith, who did not play in the fourth quarter, 18 points from shooting guard Ricardo Johnson, 12 points and five assists from point guard Noah Chambers and 11 points and eight boards off the bench from Alante Smith. The Red Raiders, who made 12 three-pointers to the Golden Eagles' three, all by Fahey, had moments of dominance in every quarter, but Reimer Road did a great job battling back in the first half. After falling behind 12-5, the Golden Eagles rallied to tie the game on a 7-0 run that was capped by a step-back 3-pointer from Fahey. They then trailed 21-12, but were still within 27-17 at the end of one despite 14 turnovers. "I took the approach of, 'Don't think, just play,'" said Fahey, who had nine points in the opening quarter. "We were big underdogs, so we figured we might as well go out and give it our all. We had nothing to lose." Despite committing 10 more turnovers in the second quarter, Reimer Road battled the Red Raiders to a 20-20 tie in the period, in large part because of Griswald's grittiness. The game started getting away from the Golden Eagles in the third period, when they were outscored 27-13. That continued in the fourth quarter, which Shaker Heights won 21-7, but the 35-point running clock did not go into effect until the final minutes. "They were a lot more physical than we were used to," Chadbourne said. "They were big and they went up for every rebound. The turnovers really killed us. They were super aggressive and it tires you out." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter. Shaker Heights 95, Reimer Road 57 REIMER ROAD 17 20 13 7 — 57 SHAKER HEIGHTS 27 20 27 21 — 95 Reimer Road — Ryan Haic 3-2-8, Sully Chadbourne 3-2-8, Tyler Most 2-2-6, Matt Fahey 5-4-17, Seth Griswald 2-4-8, Zach Capela 1-0-2, Chance Few 2-0-4, Casey Hill 0-0-0, Isaiah Ballard 1-2-4. TOTALS: 19-16-57. Shaker Heights — Kellon Smith 12-6-34, Aiden Diaz 0-2-2, Landon Future 0-0-0, Ricardo Johnson 6-3-18, Noah Chambers 3-4-12, Alante Smith 5-0-11, Kaden Aaron 2-0-5, Kameron Lumpkin 2-0-5, Jace Griffin 0-0-0, Isley Woods 1-2-4, Kylan Marshall 0-0-0, Jerith Eaddy 2-0-4, Andrew Farkas 0-0-0, Jack Huff 0-0-0. TOTALS: 33-17-95. 3-point goals — Fahey 3, K. Smith 4, Johnson 3, Chambers 2, A. Smith, Aaron, Lumpkin. Rebounds — Reimer Road 29 (Chadbourne 9), Shaker Heights 32 (K. Smith, A. Smith 8). Assists — Reimer Reid 10 (Ballard 3), Shaker Heights 13 (Chambers 5). Records — Reimer Road (2-1), Shaker Heights (2-1).