Boys sectional basketball: Black River rallies, can't beat Clearview

SHEFFIELD TWP. — The Black River boys basketball team battled back, but the hole was just too deep. After a nightmare first half, the Pirates turned a blowout into a close game before falling 81-75 to Clearview in a Division III, Northeast 5 Sectional semifinal. The 17th-seeded Pirates (8-15) couldn't seem to do anything right in the second quarter and Clippers sophomore guard Zavior Castillo couldn't miss. Castillo scored 20 of his game-high 38 points in the second quarter as 14th-seeded Clearview (12-11) jumped to a 53-25 halftime lead. Castillo hit 7-of-8 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half as the Clippers went 10-for-14 from deep. Thanks to senior Cayden Hinderman-Powell and junior Eric Groesser, the Pirates rallied. Groesser scored 13 of his 24 points in the third quarter and Hinderman-Powell added 22 of his team-high 27 points in the second half. Black River, which trailed by 26 points (57-31) midway through the third quarter, cut the Clearview lead to four points in the final minute of the game. The Clippers went 10-for-11 from the line in the final 1:02 to put the game away. "The guys showed a lot of character in the second half," Black River coach J.R. Wilson said. "We dug ourselves a big hole in the first half, made some mental mistakes and things just weren't going our way. "At halftime I talked about going out and just playing our game, regardless of what happens. I felt like the boys really fought back hard in the second half." Wilson liked what he saw from Hinderman-Powell and Groesser. "We haven't had (Groesser at full strength) for a couple of games and, boy, he's got a lot of heart," he said. "He's a tough person to defend and he really has a competitiveness inside him. (Hinderman-Powell) is special. I know it was his last game, but what a way to go out. He really battled hard and I'm proud of him." Hinderman-Powell said the Pirates were going to battle until the end. "We're the type of team that has come out slow, but we're going to fight in the second half," he said. "We did it against Keystone and we fought back into it tonight. I don't think we've won a game where we were up in the first half. That's just who we are. "(Clearview) was hitting everything, especially at the end of the second quarter. Still, in the back of our minds, we didn't think we were out of it." Clippers coach Jason Christensen said he was never comfortable against the Pirates, even with a big lead. "They have those two great players and we knew they were going to be getting the ball," he said. "You have to give them credit because they battled throughout. We're still learning and this was a good experience for us." Johnny Kray added six points and 10 rebounds for Black River while Ridge Martin scored eight. Keith Colvin scored 11 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for Clearview. Contact Mike Perry at sports@medina-gazette.com. Clearview 81, Black River 75 Division III, Northeast 5 Sectional Semifinal BLACK RIVER 10 15 21 29 — 75 CLEARVIEW 23 30 10 19 — 81 Black River — Cayden Hinderman-Powell 10-3-27, Eric Groesser 9-3-24, Evan Ladina 1-2-4, Ridge Martin 3-0-8, Johnny Kray 2-2-6, Blake Hopkins 3-0-6, Aden MacFarlane 0-0-0. TOTALS: 28-10-75 Clearview — Ayden Cruz 3-0-6, Keith Colvin 4-2-11, Zavior Castillo 11-8-38, Ashton Noble 1-7-9, Jai Walton 3-2-8, Cy Christensen 2-1-7, Malcolm Lane 1-0-2, Toriano Goodwin Jr. 0-0-0, Kanyon Delgado 0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-20-81. 3-point goals — Hinderman-Powell 4, Groesser 3, Martin 2, Castillo 8, Christensen 2, Colvin. Rebounds — Black River 35 (Kray 10), Clearview 41 (Colvin 11). Records — Black River (8-15), Clearview (12-11).