Louisville Falls in District Semifinal at Poland 53-43, Finishes 14-10

#2 Poland Seminary 53, #9 Louisville 43

<<< Previous At #7 Salem | Boys Basketball Schedule |

The #9 seed Louisville Leopards Boys Basketball Team fell to the host #2 Poland Seminary Bulldogs 53-43 in their DII Northeast 2 District Semifinal Thursday Night at Poland High School. With the loss, Louisville finishes the 2020-2021 campaign with a final record of 14-10.

Aljancic and Noble Score Team-High 12 Points Each

Sophomore Will Aljancic and senior Cory Noble both scored a team-high 12 points to lead the Leopards. Aljancic scored all of his points from beyond the arch, while Noble scored 10 of his 12 points from the floor. Freshman Hayden Nigro also scored 7 points and junior Tyler Boldon hit a pair of three-pointers to finish with 6 for Louisville.

Bulldogs Take Command in 1st Half

Poland scored the first four points of the game and never surrendered their lead. The Bulldogs went ahead 10-3 to open the game and later used an 8-0 run to pull ahead 23-9 with two minutes left in the second quarter.

Poland would maintain that 14-point advantage into the break leading 32-18. The Bulldogs made 3 three-pointers en rout to outscoring the Leopards 22-13 in the second quarter to take command of the contest.

Louisville Gets Back Into Game with 10-0 Run

Poland continued to build upon their lead in the second half upping the margin to as many as 17 points. The Bulldogs led 43-26 at the end of the third quarter and led 45-28 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

The Leopards answered back with a quick 10-0 run over the course of the next 1:20 of game time.  Nigro kickstarted the run by burying a three-pointer. Noble and senior Connor King followed suite with a pair of buckets. Then Aljancic capped off the run with a three-pointer from the top of the arch. That made the score 45-38 and drew a Poland timeout in the process with 5:06 to play the ball game.

Poland Moves On to Host Chaney

Louisville managed to get as close as 47-41 when Aljancic hit his fourth three-pointer of the game with a little over two minutes to play. However, the Leopards only points the rest of the way would come via a Noble jumper from the free throw line that cut the deficit to 51-43 with under a minute to play.

Louisville fought hard until the end, but their shots just were not dropping. Poland prevailed 53-43 as a result and will host the #3 seed Youngstown Chaney Cowboys Saturday at 4:00 PM in the DII Northeast 2 District Championship game. Chaney defeated #6 seed West Branch 73-41 Thursday to punch their ticket to the title game.

Colosimo Leads Bulldogs With Game-High 16

The Bulldogs were led by junior Christian Colosimo who finished with a game-high 16 points. Other Poland players in double digits included Brody Todd who finished with 11 and Ross Dedo who tacked on 10.

Louisville Vs. Poland Boys Basketball History

The Leopards have now lost their last 3 games against the Bulldogs, a streak that spans across 54 years. Louisville lost at home to Poland 76-65 in their previous meeting on December 12, 2009. Thursday’s matchup was the Leopards first trip to Poland since January 21, 1967 when both teams were members of the Tri-County League. The Bulldogs also won that affair 61-57.

The Leopards are now 10-23 against the Bulldogs all-time dating back to their first meeting in 1952. Louisville is now 3-13 all-time when playing at Poland. This was their first ever meeting in the postseason.

<<< Previous 2009 | Poland All-Time Series

Leopard Basketball Tournament History

Louisville is now 55-88 all-time in postseason play, which includes a 1-3 record in tournament games played on the road. The Leopards are now 27-28 when competing in Division II.

<<< Previous 2021 Vs. Salem | Boys Basketball Tournament History

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