Boys basketball: Highland 3-point onslaught overwhelms Cloverleaf

GRANGER TWP. — The Highland boys basketball team isn't the 2022 Golden State Warriors and Colin Goldie won't be confused with Klay Thompson anytime soon, so what transpired Tuesday was certifiably ridiculous. In another go-figure moment in what has been an unpredictably successful season, Medina County's least-prolific 3-point shooting team had one of the best long-range performances in area history Tuesday to overwhelm Cloverleaf 81-48 in a non-league game of old Suburban League rivals. Highland (15-5) finished 18-for-37 from 3-point range — yes, that's right: 18! — highlighted by five straight connections from Goldie that helped turn a single-digit lead against the Colts (10-9) into 22 in what felt like the blink of an eye. For proper context, Highland entered the night with a county-low 101 3-pointers while shooting less than 30%. By comparison, No. 1 Brunswick was at 192 and north of 40%. "I think we moved the ball really well," said Goldie, who had a game- and career-high 18 points. "Shots were falling, so we kept on shooting. Their 2-3 zone, we were attacking it really well. "We made 18 threes — 18-of-37. I didn't even know until now. Eighteen for 37, that's almost 50%" Goldie got a surprise start when another player missed a shootaround and had the biggest night of his career by making 5-of-7 3-pointers. Jake Weber (17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists) and Joshua Butcher (15, 7, 3) each had three 3-pointers, Nick Dobkowski (7, 4, 5) and Ashton Gleba had two apiece and Carson Cope, Jackson Robertson and Brayden Maloney connected as well. Highland had quarterly 3-point efforts of 3-for-9, 4-for-8, 8-for-16 and 3-for-4 as Cloverleaf tried out a 2-3 zone for the first time this season, a move that made sense given the Hornets' aforementioned season 3-point totals. Instead of jacking under adrenaline, the Hornets impressively rotated the ball with more authority as the perimeter shooting became more pronounced, leading to 21 assists on 29 field goals. "We've playing a ton of nail-biters (11-5 in games decided by single digits), so to finally shoot it well as a team, I hope it helps our confidence with a couple of big games looming in the next 10 days or so," coach Tanner Houska said. "This was a great opportunity for us to play a non-league game late, and we took advantage of it by shooting well as a team." To their credit, the Colts hung around for most of the first half despite eventually losing the rebounding battle 31-17 two games after getting hammered 36-11 on the boards in an overtime win over Firelands. Isaac Smith had 12 points, five rebounds and seven assists, Kellen Price had eight points and junior varsity swing player Vincent Hinderman had a career night with 12 points. A serious lack of length and physicality wore down Cloverleaf as the game progressed, as rebounding woes and Highland's ball movement led to tired rotations that left more open 3-point looks, especially in the backbreaking third quarter that Highland won 27-10. "We've got to come out with some energy," first-year Colts coach Lance Price said. "I felt like the first half we were playing at the pace we wanted to against them. In the second half, there just wasn't the energy. "We've got to understand in these big games you've got to let it all out. I feel like we were just a little off tonight. Some silly mistakes happened." The score was fairly close late in the first half when Goldie went nuts. The junior was 0-for-3 from the floor and 3-for-6 at the foul line with four rebounds when he connected on his first 3-pointer to make the score 37-24 with 1:03 left before halftime. He hit another on the next possession to push the lead close to blowout status. Goldie locked in and continued to fire to open the third quarter, making three more 3-pointers to push the lead to 50-28. "It felt really good," he said. "I earned my spot to start, so I'm hoping it just keeps going the rest of the year. I'd like to keep on having those performances." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Cloverleaf 81, Highland 48 CLOVERLEAF &emsp;&emsp;15 12 10 11 — 48 HIGHLAND &emsp;&emsp;19 21 27 14 — 81 Cloverleaf — Jackson James 1-0-3, Owen Brownson 1-1-3, Jimmy Tolley 3-0-6, Kellen Price 3-1-8, Isaac Smith 3-4-12, Justus Sohosky 1-0-2, Damien Reed 0-0-0, Brody Adams 1-0-2, Reed Kilgore 0-0-0, Vincent Hinderman 5-1-12, Zayne Trent 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-7-48. Highland — Nick Dobkowski 2-1-7, Joshua Butcher 6-0-15, Jameson Gordon 0-0-0, Colin Goldie 5-3-18, Jake Weber 7-0-17, Conner Dean 1-1-3, Carson Cope 4-0-9, Damian Cirino 0-0-0, Ashton Gleba 2-0-6, Jackson Robertson 1-0-3, Brayden Maloney 1-0-3, Colin Mendenhall 0-0-0, Cannon Foutz 0-0-0, Henry Saueer 0-0-0. TOTALS: 29-5-81. 3-point goals — Smith 2, James, Price, Hinderman, Goldie 5, Butcher 3, Weber 3, Dobkowski 2, Gleba 2, Cope, Robertson, Maloney. Rebounds — Cloverleaf 17 (Smith 5), Highland 31 (Butcher 8). Assists — Cloverleaf 15 (Smith 7), Highland 21 (Dobkowski 5). Records — Cloverleaf (10-9), Highland (15-5). Junior varsity — Highland 56, Cloverleaf 34 (H: Jason Fearn 12, C: Grady Porter 11).