Louisville Rally Comes Up Short Vs. Hoover 56-53 – Boys Basketball
North Canton Hoover 56, Louisville 53
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The Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team fell in a nail-biter against the visiting North Canton Hoover Vikings 56-53 Friday Night at Louisville High School. With the loss, Louisville drops to 14-4 heading into the tournament draw this weekend.
Varsity Recap | Varsity Box Score | JV Box Score
Aljancic & Gross Score Game High 16 Each
Senior wing Will Aljancic and sophomore forward Brayden Gross each scored a game high 16 points to lead the Leopards. Both players scored in every quarter and their scoring was spread evenly throughout the contest.
Other scores for Louisville included sophomore forward Ashton Marshall with 9, point guard Beau Siegfried with 8, and junior guard Hayden Nigro with 4.
Collins Leads North Canton With 15
Senior point guard Wes Collins scored 8 of his team high 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead North Canton. Other Vikings in double figures included sophomore shooting guard Zach Braucher with 13 and senior power forward Mason Billie who added 10.
Points Come at a Premium at the Start
Points came at a premium at the start of the contest. The two teams played to a 2-2 tie through the first three and a half minutes with all points coming via the free throw stripe. Collins scored on a layup for the games’ first field goal with 4:13 remaining on the first quarter clock.
The Leopards would respond with a 6-0 run and would take an 11-8 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Vikings Take Command on Pair of 10-0 Runs
Hoover rallied in the second quarter to tie the game at 16-16 before Louisville would go ahead again at 19-16. The Vikings then shutout the Leopards over the final 3:26 of the first half and scored the final six points of the quarter to take a 22-19 lead into the break. This was part of a 10-0 North Canton run as they took a 26-19 lead during the opening minute of the second half.
Louisville rallied with a 9-0 run of their own during the midway portion of the third quarter to recapture the lead at 31-28. However, Hoover once against closed the period strong scoring the final eight points of the third quarter to take a 41-35 advantage into the final stanza. Another basket by Billie in the opening minute of the fourth quarter capped off another 10-0 Viking run and gave them their largest lead of the game at 43-35.
Leopards Rally Capped Off by Siegfried 3
North Canton would again jump ahead by an eight point margin at 47-39 at the 4:49 mark of the fourth quarter. Louisville chipped away at the deficit from the free throw line before Siegfried buried a three-pointer from the right wing to get the Leopards to within 49-48 with 3:30 left in the game. The play was setup by backcourt pressure Aljancic and Nigro near the baseline. This forced an ill-advised pass that was tipped and stolen by Gross on the left wing. He gained control and kicked the ball over to Siegfried, who’s three-pointer capped off a 9-2 Louisville run.
Hoover Hangs On in Final Seconds
The two teams exchanged baskets and the Vikings held a 54-50 lead as the clock ticked under minute remaining. With 50.1 seconds left, Marshall drove to the basket, scored to make it 54-52, and was fouled. He would miss from the line, but Hoover senior small forward Blake Ward was called for a foul in the lane while shoving Aljancic to the hardwood in pursuit of a rebound. Aljancic went to the line and hit the back end of the double bonus attempts to trim the Viking lead to 54-53 with 49.8 seconds remaining.
The Leopard defense forced a backcourt violation on the other end giving the Louisville offense a chance to setup for a go-ahead basket. Out of a timeout, the North Canton defense surrendered a wide open three-pointer. The ensuing attempt circled the rim and fell to the floor. Junior Danny Holihan retrieved it for the Vikings and Collins was eventually fouled with 11.7 seconds left.
Collins buried both of his free throw attempts from the line on the other side of the court to put Hoover in front 56-53. The Leopards final play spawned a great look from the top of the arch, but the attempt hit off the back of the iron. Sophomore small forward Logan Ash secured the board in the corner of the court for North Canton as the last seconds ticked away and the final horn sounded.
Louisville Vs. North Canton Basketball Series
The Leopards have now fallen to the Vikings in each of the last 3 seasons after Louisville had taken the previous 5 meetings prior to that. North Canton now leads the all-time series 69-60 in records dating back to 1926.
<<< Previous 2021 | Hoover All-Time Series
UP NEXT:The Leopards will next travel to take on the Lake Blue Streaks on Tuesday, February 7. JV will begin at 6:00 PM and Varsity will follow around 7:15 PM.
Cover Photo By The Louisville Herald
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Hoover at Louisville Varsity Statistics
VIKINGS 56, LEOPARDS 53
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Hoover 8-14-19-15–56
Louisville 11-8-16-18–53
VIKINGS: Collins 6 3-4 15, Braucher 6 1-5 13, Bille 4 2-3 10, Ward 3 3-4 9, Walter 3 0-0 7, Ross 1 0-0 2. TOTAL 23 9-16 56.
3-Pointers (1): Walter
Team FT: 9-16 56%
LEOPARDS: Aljancic 6 3-6 16, Gross 5 6-8 16, Marshall 4 0-1 9, Siegfried 1 5-6 8, Nigro 1 2-2 4. TOTAL 17 16-23 53.
3-Pointers (3): Aljancic, Marshall, Siegfried
Team FT: 16-23 70%
Fouls: 16
Turnovers:
Records: Louisville 14-4
JV: Louisville 41, North Canton Hoover 36
JV Statistics
LEOPARDS 41, VIKINGS 36
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Hoover 10-9-9-8–36
Louisville 12-7-12-10–41
VIKINGS: Pringle 4 1-2 10, Oster 4 1-1 9, Granito 3 0-0 6, Collins 2 0-1 4, Bowling 1 0-0 3, Hernandez 1 0-0 2, Holihan 1 0-0 2. TOTAL 16 2-4 36.
3-Pointers (2): Bowling, Pringle
Team FT: 2-4 50%
LEOPARDS: Andrejcik 5 2-4 14, Leghart 4 0-0 9, Z. Boldon 3 0-0 7, L. Boldon 2 1-2 6, Aljancic 2 1-1 5. TOTAL 16 4-7 41.
3-Pointers (5): Andrejcik 2, L. Boldon, Z. Boldon, Leghart
Team FT: 4-7 57%
Fouls: 12-11 Hoover
Records: Louisville 9-3
JV (1/31): Louisville 70, International Sports Academy 56
LEOPARDS 70, ISA 56
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
ISA 6-19-15-16–56
Louisville 12-22-22-14–70
ISA: Bictola 11 1-1 25, Nayanla 3 1-1 7, Nellis 3 1-2 7, Vesconi 3 1-2 7, Littler 2 0-0 6, Lee 1 0-0 2, Youseff 1 0-0 2. TOTAL 24 4-6 56.
3-Pointers (4): Bictola 2, Littler 2
Team FT: 4-6 67%
LEOPARDS: Andrejcik 10 3-5 28, Dougherty 7 2-5 16, Aljancic 4 2-2 10, L. Boldon 2 0-0 4, House 1 0-0 3, Z. Boldon 1 0-0 3, Leghart 1 0-0 2, Wallace 1 0-0 2, Whitted 1 0-0 2. TOTAL 28 7-12 70.
3-Pointers (7): Andrejcick 5, Z. Boldon, House
Team FT: 7-12 58%
Fouls: 11-8 International Sports Academy
Records: Louisville 8-3