Boys district basketball: Zak Brownson saves Cloverleaf in win over Field

WESTFIELD TWP. — The best 30-second stretch of Zak Brownson's basketball life saved the Cloverleaf boys basketball team Friday, but he wasn't about to save coach Jack Banks from an unexpected postgame ice water shower in the locker room afterward. A 6-foot-7 senior center, Brownson made two free throws, blocked a driving layup and rebounded a missed 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to help the 23rd-seeded Colts survive 30th-seeded Field 70-68 in an intense and sometimes even rowdy Division IV, Northeast 1 District quarterfinal. Cloverleaf (14-9), which will play at sixth-seeded Glenville (15-7) on Tuesday, joined 2020 (Clearview, 58-54), 2007 (Westlake, 63-60, OT) and 1994 (Akron East, 53-30) as the only Colts teams to win tournament games since Cloverleaf lost to Elyria Catholic in the 1988 Baldwin-Wallace Division II District final, its only all-time appearance in the round of 32. A wide-open missed layup at the buzzer by the Falcons (9-14) was needed to prevent overtime, but the Colts were still appreciative of staying alive. "It was huge winning, because our coach said it's not a common thing for Cloverleaf to win its first playoff game," Brownson said. "It was really big for us. We game-planned the whole week, and we didn't want to leave on a loss in our last game at home as seniors. We all left it out on the court. "It was really back and forth. Everyone just wanted to play within themselves." Cloverleaf blew an eight-point lead for the second time after Ty Kovach's 3-pointer put them up 61-53 early in the fourth. Field, which made 12-of-27 3-pointers but none in the fourth, rallied to claw ahead 67-66 before Brownson was fouled while trying to finish a designed alley-oop off a baseline inbounds. Brownson entered the night just 29-for-51 (.569) at the stripe, but he made both attempts to give Cloverleaf the lead for good with 1:12 to play. The standout soccer goalie then saved a teammate who fell behind Grady Eader by blocking Eader before grabbing a defensive rebound off the ensuing inbounds play. Cloverleaf's Isaac Smith and Marty Moran made 3-of-4 free throws over the final 27.3 seconds, but the Falcons had one more chance. Eader found a teammate streaking downhill at the top of the 3-point line for what appeared destined to be the game-tying layup, but the shot went begging and the ball soared through the air out of bounds as time expired. "Oh, I was so nervous," said a smiling Brownson, who through extra practice has made 25 of his last 36 free throws (.694). "During the beginning of the season, I really struggled with free throws (9-for-20 start). They were just not my strong suit, and I just practiced them. Before the game when we'd warm up, I wouldn't shoot another shot. I'd shoot free throws. "I want to be reliable, and the way I can be reliable is be consistent." Cloverleaf, which went from up eight to down 11 in the first half, got another high-scoring, high-volume-of-shots night from Smith, who finished with 27 points on 11-of-23 field goals to give him 54 points on 45 shots over the last two games. Brownson added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Carter Whitehair had six points, six rebounds and four assists. Last but not least, Moran fought through a sprained shoulder and was little more passive than usual but still put up 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists. The senior guard now has 463 points on the season, putting him within range of the school-record 473 scored by Parker Hewit en route to winning Gazette MVP honors in 2007-08. Field lived and died with the 3-pointer, making six of its first eight to erase an 8-0 deficit, then 6-of-9 to salvage a 20-20 third quarter. The Falcons were led by Brayden Ronowoski (17 points, 5-of-7 3-pointers), Landon Wilmoth (14, 4-of-8) and Eader (11, 2-of-8) and won the rebounding battle 33-29 despite a noticeable size disadvantage. With one referee blowing his whistle at light contact and the other two letting the players beat up each other, fans and players were barking with such intensity that Moran often had to double-check with Banks for play calls, which is notable because Banks' voice usually booms throughout any gymnasium. Banks also need to toss his coaching garb into the washer when he returned home to Wadsworth, because his players drenched him with not one but two Gatorade coolers of ice water before everyone belted the D.J. Khaled song "All I Do is Win" acapella style. Tradition is tradition, no matter how the victory is obtained. "I told the boys, 'Thank you for not using Gatorade,' so I'm at least good with that," a chuckling Banks said. "Every part of my body is wet, but I told them, 'We'll take it every time for a win like that.'" Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Division IV, Northeast 1 District quarterfinal Cloverleaf 70, Field 68 FIELD &emsp;&emsp;21 10 20 17 — 68 CLOVERLEAF &emsp;&emsp;16 17 20 17 — 70 Field — Landon Wilmoth 5-0-14, Alec Grimm 2-0-4, Ben Stayer 4-1-9, Brayden Ronowski 6-0-17, Grady Eader 3-3-11, Trevon Dixon 4-2-11, Joey Conroy 0-2-2, Sam Confer 0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-8-68. Cloverleaf — Ty Kovach 2-1-6, Carter Whitehair 2-2-6, Zak Brownson 4-5-13, Marty Moran 5-5-18, Isaac Smith 11-3-27, Kellen Price 0-0-0, Gavin Forbes 0-0-0, Joe Cesareo 0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-16-70. 3-point goals — Ronowski 5, Wilmoth 4, Eader 2, Dixon, Moran 3, Smith 2, Kovach. Rebounds — Field 33 (Eader, Dixon, Grimm 6), Cloverleaf 29 (Moran, Brownson 8). Assists — Field 12 (Eader 3), Cloverleaf 13 (Moran 5). Records — Field (9-14), Cloverleaf (14-9).