Leopards Grind Out Win Against Quakers 56-50 – Boys Basketball

Louisville 56, New Philadelphia 50

The Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team defeated the visiting New Philadelphia Quakers 56-50 on Senior Night Friday at Louisville High School. Louisville has now won three straight and will head into the tournament with a final regular season record of 15-7.

Scotty Gronow hit 7 of 10 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter and finished with a team-high 15 points to lead the Leopards. Collin Chambers also made 3 three-pointers in scoring 13 and Cory Noble added a double digit performance with 10.

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Chambers step back three-pointer just before the end of the first quarter capped off a 7-0 Louisville run to give LHS a 15-8 lead heading into the second quarter. The Leopards extended advantage to 24-16 by halftime.

Out of the locker room, a basket by Gronow and another three-ball by Chambers gave Louisville their largest lead of the game at 29-18 less than a minute into the third quarter. That advantage was quickly erased by a 13-2 New Philadelphia run that tied the game at 31-all with 3:49 left in the third quarter.

Despite giving up ground, the Leopards never surrendered the lead. On the next possession, Gronow had a clear path the basket but the rim was unkind. Chambers was there and tipped it home to put LHS back in front. On their next trip down, Chambers found Colton Jones wide open in the right corner and he nailed the downtown jumper to put Louisville up 36-32. The Leopards would eventually ride a 39-35 cushion into the final quarter.

Louisville’s patient offense drained the clock away at the start of the fourth quarter, while the New Philadelphia offense misfired on a quick possession. The Leopards scored on their first two possessions of the final period on a pair of Dakota Hoffman to Noble easy baskets more than two minutes apart putting LHS ahead 43-37.

Louisville continued running an effective stall. The Quakers only had 2 fouls coming into the fourth quarter, so the Leopards were able to run a lot of clock before they were finally in the bonus at the 4:38 mark of the fourth quarter. LHS converted 11 of 16 free throws in those final minutes to put the game away. 

New Philadelphia (15-7) was led by Zander Sabin who scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. Jent Joseph and Carter Vandall also added 8 points each for the Quakers.

This was the first meeting between the two teams since Louisville defeated visiting New Philadelphia 51-44 in the DI Canton/Copley Sectional Semifinals on March 4, 2015.The Leopards trail the Quakers 9-10 in the all-time series dating back to the 1957-58 season, but hold a 7-3 mark over New Philadelphia in games played at Louisville.

Prior to the game, the Leopards honored their 6 Seniors: Davis Burick, Collin Chambers, Scott Gronow, Colton Jones, Ryan Pukys, and Allen Staley! Leopard Nation thanks them for their hard work and dedication to the Louisville Leopards Boys Basketball program and wishes them the best of luck in all post-high school endeavors!  

UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the winner of #7 Coventry Comets/#10 Norton Panthers in the DII Canton Sectional Finals on Friday, February 28 at 7:00 PM.

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