Boys basketball: Black River steps up, beats Rittman

SULLIVAN TWP. — Even with an ultra-rare, early-season coaching change, the kids are growing up mighty quickly. The rapid improvement of the extremely young Black River boys basketball team continued in earnest Saturday during a non-league game against Rittman. The three starting freshmen carried the scoring load, and point guard Hunter Varney took over the fourth quarter in what ended up a 58-51 Pirates victory. Two weeks removed from seeing coach Dennis English placed on administrative leave, Black River (3-7) is 2-1 under interim boss Mike Hazlett and very well could be 3-0 if not for a late collapse at Plymouth. There was no such problem this time. The Pirates stepped up in the clutch against the Indians (1-8). "We're working our butts off," Varney said. "We started the season a little rough, but now we're bringing it together. We're playing really hard, and now we're together and playing ball. "We've been through some changes, but we're a young team. We've had a lot of different guys playing together for the first time and the chemistry was off, but now we're playing really good basketball." Varney was the centerpiece of everything Black River did correctly over the final 4:45, assisting on two 3-pointers and a three-point play before making 1-of-2 free throws with 1:16 left. The freshman Wellington transfer also made three 3-pointers — he entered play with four on the season — and finished with 14 points and five assists. Varney had plenty of help. Classmate Josh Stuart, the great-grandson of Medina County's first track and field state champion, Lylle Stuart of Spencer, fired at will from the wings and corners for a career-high 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Parker Broadsword bounced back from quiet middle quarters to pump in eight of his 13 points in the fourth, which included a corner 3-pointer that gave Black River the lead for good and a three-point play that stretched the advantage to 54-49. The ninth-graders accounted for 44 of the team's 58 points, though pseudo center Zane Kristophel, a 6-0 sophomore who's now getting big minutes due to a knee injury to 6-2 veteran Zane Bungard, deserves plenty of credit after hauling in a game-high nine rebounds as Black River won the category 26-24 despite being outsized. "They've all come together as a family and grown all in all," Hazlett said. "We have a really young team. A lot of situations have been thrown at them that most teams don't see in a season. For them to bounce back, come together and finish this game strong, I'm very proud of them." Rittman, which has won only 14 games over the last 3½ seasons, had success in the second half with a trapping 1-2-2 zone before curiously pulling it off and allowing Black River to grab momentum. The Indians did a good job taking advantage of getting the ball to physical center Christian Dubiel (20 points, 8 rebounds) but made just 5-of-17 field goals in the fourth quarter. The game was tight throughout, as the teams combined to make 13-of-24 shots in a 33-point first quarter before showing the inconsistent play that has plagued them most of the season. Black River also battled foul trouble, with starting wing Austin Pamer fouling out and three other players picking up their fourth in the fourth quarter. The Pirates were put in the same situation as the 55-49 Plymouth loss after the Indians rallied to tie the score with five minutes left. This time, they had all the answers and played like anything but wide-eyed 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds. They played to win. "At the start of the season, we weren't really comfortable or used to the varsity experience," Stuart said. "It took us a few games to get into the swing of things. We started meshing together." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Black River 58, Rittman 51 RITTMAN &emsp;&emsp;15 5 17 14 — 51 BLACK RIVER &emsp;&emsp;18 9 10 21 — 58 Rittman — Luke Robinson 3-0-7, Dack Matters 1-2-5, Christian Dubiel 7-6-20, Jaxon Miller 5-0-12, Carson Smith 3-1-7, Odin Werlock 0-0-0, Brayden Louk 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-9-51. Black River — Josh Stuart 7-1-17, Austin Pamer 2-0-4, Zane Kristophel 3-1-7, Parker Broadsword 5-1-13, Hunter Varney 5-1-14, Chase English 1-1-3, Zyan Griffin 0-0-0, Wade Mangan 0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-5-58. 3-point goals — Miller 2, Robinson, Matters, Varney 3, Broadsword 2, Stuart 2. Rebounds — Rittman 24 (Dubiel 8), Black River 26 (Kristophel 9). Assists — Rittman 11 (Robinson 3), Black River 11 (Varney 5). Records — Rittman (1-8), Black River (3-7). Junior varsity — Black River 24, Rittman 21 (2 quarters).