Leopards Win at Wire Against Wildcats 51-48
Video Highlights
Louisville 51, Canton South 48
Louisville erased a six-point fourth quarter deficit to down visiting Canton South 51-48 Friday Night. Blake Hoover led the Leopards with 11 points, while Drew Noble and Jake Pukys each added 10. With the victory, Louisville is now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
Jake Adams hit his second three-pointer of the contest to give the Leopards a 37-34 advantage with just a minute to play in the third quarter. However, the Wildcats answered back with a 10-1 run to take a 44-37 lead with a little over six minutes remaining in the contest.
Amazingly, Louisville snatched momentum back and went on a 12-1 run to go ahead 49-45. The run was highlighted by Hoover and Chris Libertore buckets and also a Bryce Mathie three-pointer that gave the Leps the lead at 45-44. Mathie would finish the night with 9. During the run, the Leopards shutout the Wildcats from the field for a span of 6:13.
Despite being shut down by the Louisville defense, the next Canton South field goal was their biggest of the evening. Garrett Crum found nylon from the top of the arch to put the Wildcats within one point of the Leopards with just 8.8 seconds left in the contest. Crum finished as the games leading scorer with 14 points and he also hit 4 three-pointers. Matt Nicoletti also scored 13 points for the Cats and Malik Campbell added 8.
On the other end, Pukys buried two free throws to give Louisville a 51-48 lead with just 7.6 seconds left to play. The Leopards hit 7 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter and were 11 of 17 (65%) from the line for the game. The Wildcats were just 3 of 11 (27%) from the charity stride.
South’s final attempt to knot the game bounced in and out of the rim much to the delight of a large Louisville crowd on hand. With the victory, Canton South now leads the all-time series 93-45. However, the Leopards have now taken 7 out of the last 10 overall.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will travel to New Philadelphia to take on the Quakers on Monday, December 23. JV will begin at 6:00 and Varsity will follow at 7:30.
VARSITY STATISTICS
LEOPARDS 51, WILDCATS 48
Wildcats: Crum 5 0-0 14, Nicoletti 6 0-0 13, Campbell 3 1-4 8, Lyon 2 1-4 5, Allison 1 1-3 3, Ickes 1 0-0 3, Barrino 1 0-0 2. TOTAL 19 3-11 48.
3-Pointers (7): Crum (4), Campbell, Ickes, Nicoletti
Team FT: 3-11 27%
LEOPARDS: Hoover 5 1-2 11, Noble 4 2-3 10, Pukys 3 4-5 10, B. Mathie 2 4-7 9, J. Adams 2 0-0 6, Libertore 2 0-0 5. TOTAL 18 11-17 51.
3-Pointers (4): J. Adams (2), Libertore, B. Mathie
Team FT: 11-17 65%
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Canton South 13-12-12-11–48
Louisville 8-13-16-14–51
Fouls: 16-13 Canton South
Turnovers: 12-10 Canton South
Records: Louisville 4-1, 2-0; Canton South 2-3, 1-1
JV: Louisville 39, Canton South 36
The Leopards jumped out to a 13-1 lead and the Wildcats could only manage to lead one time after that. Louisville hung on for a 39-36 home victory to improve to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in NBC play.
John Lairson led the Leopards with with 16 points while Tyler Adams & Brock Haren added 6 points each.
The Wildcats were led by Charlie Parson with 7 and Brandol Harring with 6.
JV STATISTICS
LEOPARDS 39, WILDCATS 36
WILDCATS: Parson 2 2-6 7, Herring 3 0-0 6, Daniska 1 2-2 5, Hollinger 2 0-0 5, Jeter 2 0-0 5, Lexington 2 0-0 4, Mottice 1 0-0 2, Miles 0 1-2 1, Nutter 0 1-2 1. TOTAL 13 6-12 36.
3-Pointers (4): Daniska, Hollinger, Jeter, Parsons
Team FT: 6-12 50%
LEOPARDS: Lairson 7 2-2 16, T. Adams 3 0-0 6, Haren 3 0-0 6, Hahn 1 0-0 3, Heater 1 1-3 3, J. Mathie 1 1-2 3, Shaheen 1 0-0 2, Eddins 0 0-2 0. TOTAL 17 4-9 39.
3-Pointers (1): Hahn
Team FT: 4-9 44%
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Canton South 7-8-12-9–36
Louisville 13-5-11-10–39
Fouls: 14-13 Canton South
Turnovers: 16-10 Canton South
Records: Louisville 3-2, 2-0.