Leopards Rally Past Falcons in Final Stanza 47-45 – Boys Basketball
Louisville 47, Austintown Fitch 45
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The Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team rallied past the visiting Austintown Fitch Falcons in a 47-45 win Tuesday night at Louisville High School. With the victory, Louisville improves to 3-1 on the season.
Varsity Recap | Varsity Box Score | JV Box Score
Balcomb Fuels Louisville Fourth Quarter Rally
Cayden Balcomb scored 8 of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Leopards. Balcomb drove across the lane and scored while drawing a foul with 4:28 remaining. He hit the free throw to get Louisville to within 40-39, a deficit that had been six points just 16 seconds earlier.
Later, Balcomb swished a step-back three-pointer at the top of the key to put Louisville ahead 45-43 with 1:08 remaining. Austintown answered on the other end when Brady Evans scored on a feed inside from Junie Higgs to knot the game at 45-45 with 33.4 seconds left.
After a Leopard timeout, Balcomb drove into the lane and was fouled with 10.7 seconds remaining. He calmly went to the line and buried both free throws, nothing but nylon, to put Louisville back in front 47-45.
The Falcons worked the ball downcourt and called timeout. The Leopards used their two fouls to give, to shrink the clock down to 3.3 seconds. On the final play of the game, AJ Diaz drove to his right and was heavily contested by Drake Wilson, whom he pushed to the hardwood on the play. However, Balcomb got a hand in his face and the last-second three-point shot missed, grazing the bottom of the net as the final horn sounded.
Falcon Technical Kickstarts 8-0 Leopard Run
Louisville led 12-11 after the first quarter, the two teams went into the half tied 22-22, and then Austintown Fitch carried a 34-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons looked to have all the momentum when Braeden Sallee deflected a Leopard pass into the hands of EJ Giles. Giles broke loose to the other end and dunked it home to put Fitch in front 40-34 with 4:44 left.
However, Giles drew a technical foul after the play for getting in the face of a Louisville player. Cohen Rogers hit both technical free throws for the Leopards to shrink the lead to 40-36. Rogers would finish with 9 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Balcomb completed the traditional three-point play on the ensuing possession to trim the deficit to one.
A three-pointer in the left corner by Wilson put the Leopards ahead 42-40 a minute later. The triple was Wilson’s second of the night as he would drop in 8 points to go along with 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Dougherty and Sanders Lead Non-Scoring Stats
Louisville shot 57% from the field (16 of 28) compared to Fitch’s 45% (19 of 42) performance from the floor. The Leopards also held a 21-13 edge in rebounds, including an 18-10 advantage on the defensive glass. The great equalizer was Louisville’s 21 turnovers compared to the Falcons’ 10.
Brandon Sanders led the Leopards on the boards with a team-high 9 rebounds to go along with 6 points, 2 assists, and a steal. Colton Dougherty also dished out a team-best 5 assists while also recording a steal.
Louisville’s other scorers all made their mark in the second quarter. Luke Boldon hit a three-pointer, Cody Zahler added a basket, and Zach Boldon split a pair of free throws.
Evans Leads Fitch with Team-High 11
Evans scored 7 of his team-high 11 points in the second quarter to lead Austintown Fitch. Higgs also made a pair of three-pointers, including a deep three in front of the Falcon bench to put Fitch in front 43-42 with 1:34 remaining. Higgs and Braeden Sallee rounded out the top Falcon scorers with 8 apiece. AJ Diaz also scored 7 and Anthony Waller added 2.
Austintown Fitch has now lost 2 of its last 3 and drops to 3-2 on the year.
Leopards Win Fourth Straight Against Falcons
The Leopards have now defeated the Falcons in four consecutive meetings dating back to 2021. Louisville now leads the all-time series 8-1 overall and is a perfect 5-0 against Austintown Fitch when playing at home in the series.
The Falcons’ lone win over the Leopards came in Austintown in 2019.
<<< Previous 2022 | Austintown Fitch All-Time Series
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Northwest Indians on Saturday, December 20. JV will begin at 5:30 PM with Varsity following around 7:00 PM. Louisville will also be unveiling the 2025 state championship banner.
Cover Photo By Rick Everhart Photography
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Austintown Fitch at Louisville Boys Varsity Basketball Statistics
LEOPARDS 47, FALCONS 45
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Fitch 11-11-12-11–45
Louisville 12-10-10-15–47
Austintown Fitch Falcons Boys Varsity Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Brady Evans | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| EJ Giles | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Junie Higgs | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Braeden Sallee | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| AJ Diaz | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Anthony Waller | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 16 | 3 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 45 |
Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Cayden Balcomb | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 18 |
| Cohen Rogers | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| Drake Wilson | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Brandon Sanders | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Luke Boldon | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Cody Zahler | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Zach Boldon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 10 | 6 | 16 | 9 | 14 | 47 |
Fouls: 15-10 Austintown Fitch
Records: Louisville 3-1, Austintown Fitch 3-2
JV: Louisville 51, Austintown Fitch 42
JV Statistics
LEOPARDS 51, FALCONS 42
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Fitch 15-10-11-6–42
Louisville 17-7-15-12–51
Austintown Fitch Falcons Boys JV Box Score
| Austintown Fitch | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| AJ Davenport | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| Logan Polish | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| Caden Hernandez | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| Chris Cooper | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Mykeim Barnette | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| James Newell | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jalen Burgess | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 12 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 16 | 42 |
Louisville Leopards Boys JV Box Score
| Louisville | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Max Mathie | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 20 |
| Noah Ickes | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| Cody Zahler | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Jake Baker | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Blake Carr | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ashton Weisend | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Chase Wilson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Chase Brunoni | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 8 | 9 | 17 | 8 | 18 | 51 |
Fouls: 15-11 Fitch
Records: Louisville 4-0
