Louisville Roars Back from 11 Down in 4th to Advance to State Title Game
#4 Louisville 49, #1 Garfield Heights 48
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The #3 ranked Louisville Leopards roared back to stun the #1 ranked Garfield Heights Bulldogs 49-48 in the DIII State Semifinals Sunday Evening at Canton Memorial Field House. With the victory, Louisville improves to 23-5 on the season and advances to the DIII State Championship game against #2 ranked Cincinnati Aiken on Friday, March 21 at 1:00 PM at University of Dayton Arena.
View Game Recap | View Box Score
Gross’ 24-Point Double-Double Leads Leopards to State Final
Brayden Gross recorded a double-double finishing with game-highs of 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Leopards. Gross dominated the paint in the first half, scoring 19 points on 8 field goals.
All 10 of his first quarter points came from the field, as Louisville held a 14-13 lead at the end of the opening quarter. He added 9 more points in the second quarter as the Leopards doubled its advantage to 31-29 heading into the locker room.
Gross added a basket in each of the final two quarters. This included a three-pointer early on in the third quarter to put Louisville ahead 34-31.
Q92 Radio Broadcast
Bulldogs Rally Behind Johnson’s Game-High 25
Garfield Heights stormed back with a 13-0 run in the third quarter, taking a 44-34 lead. Ohio State commit Marcus Johnson led the Bulldog rally scoring 14 of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter alone. He buried a deadly step-back jumper from the free throw line and also hit a pair of three-pointers during the Garfield Heights run. DeVaughn Jackson also drained his second three-pointer of the evening for the only other points by the Bulldogs in the third period.
The Leopards cut into the Bulldog lead when Tate Aljancic drove to the basket and scored while being fouled. He converted the free throw attempt to get Louisville within 44-37 with 1:02 remaining in the third.
Garfield Heights milked the clock all the way down before Johnson swished a fadeaway from the free throw line in the final second to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 46-37 heading into the final quarter.
However, the Buckeye bound Johnson would not score again.
The Letter Media Network Audio Broadcast
Marshall Ignites Leopards’ Fourth-Quarter Rally
Garfield Heights looked to pick up right where they left off at the start of the fourth quarter. They patiently worked the ball around before going underneath to 6’8 senior center Nasir Hines for an easy two points. He would finish with 4 points. Hines’ basket gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game at 48-37.
Ashton Marshall kickstarted Louisville’s rally with a shifty take to the hoop to trim the Bulldog lead to single digits with 6:22 left in the game.Garfield Heights went into stall mode after that and milked a minute off the clock before Marshall forced a jump ball near the Bulldog bench to give possession back to the Leopards.
Louisville failed to score on the ensuing possession, but Aljancic and Beau Siegfried trapped in the corner forcing an errant pass into the hands of Marshall. The Leopards capitalized on that turnover when Gross spun past Hines in the lane to trim the deficit to 48-41 with 4:20 to play.
On the next possession, Marshall deflected a pass across midcourt, retrieved it for a steal, and drew a foul on a layup attempt. Marshall didn’t get the goal tend call on the play, but buried both free throws to shrink the margin to 48-43 with 3:49 to go.
Moments later, Gross rejected a Jackson drive to the basket and Marshall once again was there to give control back to the Leopards.
Kee on Sports Video Highlights
Siegfried & Andrejcik Three-Pointers Put Leopards In Front
Marshall pushed the ball ahead to Avery Andrejcik who crossed the timeline. Andrejcick then centered the ball back to Gross, who kicked to Siegfried in the left corner. BANG! The three went down and the decibel level inside Canton Memorial Field House shot up another level as Siegfried made it a one possession game.
Garfield Heights desperately attempted to run out the clock, but both possessions ended in missed shots that Gross rebounded.. Louisville worked the ball down the court quickly as the clock ticked under 100 seconds to play. Gross passed to Siegfried who drove to the left corner and passed it back to Gross in the lane. Gross had a good look at a game-tying layup, kicked it out to Avery Andrejcik who was wide open in the right corner for a catch-and-shoot three-pointer. BANG! The crowd was sent into pandemonium once more as Andrejcik capped off a 12-0 Leopard run with a go-ahead triple that put Louisville in front 49-48 with 1:31 left.
Cleveland.com Video Highlights
Louisville Holds Garfield Heights Scoreless in Final 7:32
Both teams missed a pair of shots on their next possessions as the clock ticked under a minute to play. The final missed shot in that sequence was pulled down simultaneously by Jackson and Siegfried, resulting in a jump ball. The arrow favored the Bulldogs.
Garfield Heights dribbled the clock under a half minute before taking a timeout. Out of the timeout, Johnson took a deep jumper from the top of the arc that clanked off the back rim. Gross secured the board and Louisville drained the clock down to 11.7 before a foul was called. The Leopards were not in the bonus so they were forced to inbound the ball. Louisville went for the knockout punch throwing to the opposite sideline, but the pass went high over the head of Siegfried into media row giving the Bulldogs one more possession.
The Leopards had fouls to give and used three of them on Johnson. This shrunk the clock down to 3.4 seconds left giving Garfield Heights one last shot.
On the inbound, Andrejcik tightly guarded Johnson, preventing a clean pass.. Johnson got control, but was only left with a logo three-point attempt to win the game. The shot ricocheted off the left side of the backboard as the final buzzer sounded
The field house erupted and the Louisville bench stormed the court to meet the active players. The Leopards, who had fallen behind by 11 points in the fourth quarter, had rallied all the way back. Louisville’s defense held the top ranked team in the state scoreless over the final 7:32 to advance to Dayton.
Head Coach Tom Siegfried raised both arms in triumph, overcome with emotion.. The Program he built will be playing for a state title.
UP NEXT: The now #2 ranked Leopards will take on the now #1 ranked Cincinnati Aiken Falcons in the DIII State Championship on Friday, March 21 at 1:00 PM at University of Dayton Arena.
COVER PHOTO BY Rick Everhart Photography
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Louisville Vs. Garfield Heights Boys Basketball Statistics
LEOPARDS 49, BULLDOGS 48
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 14-17-6-12–49
Garfield Heights 13-16-17-2–48
Louisville Leopards Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Brayden Gross | 10 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
| Beau Siegfried | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Avery Andrejcik | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Tate Aljancic | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Ashton Marshall | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Devin Bailey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 15 | 5 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 49 |
Garfield Heights Bulldogs Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Marcus Johnson | 6 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 25 |
| Braylin Sullivan | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| DeVaughn Jackson | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Nasir Hines | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Rayshawn Meyers | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Ari Jones | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 12 | 6 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 48 |
Fouls: 10-9 Garfield Heights
Records: Louisville 23-5, Garfield Heights 23-3
