“We didn’t play very good,” Molz said. “We came out slow the beginning of every quarter besides the second. I don’t know what it was. At home we’ve done it way more than we have on the road this year for some reason.”
The reasons existed on both ends as the Firebirds lost 56-46 to Sycamore (11-1), the first-place team in the Greater Miami Conference and a top-seed contender in the southern half of the Division I district tournament.
On both ends the Firebirds (8-4), with no one taller than 6-foot-3, struggled against Sycamore’s 6-11 Raleigh Burgess, a four-star recruit going to Purdue. Burgess scored 14 points, blocked seven shots, altered others and forced other shooters to pass out of the lane.
“Offensively we got the ball where we wanted it to go,” Molz said. “Our guys, in the first half, were a little hesitant. Those mid-range jump shots were there, but seeing a 6-10 guy for the first time in your career sometimes that might throw you off a little bit.”
Molz prepped his team to take the ball hard at Burgess and make it more difficult for him to block shots. Instead the Firebirds had to rely on longer shots. In the first half junior Evan Gentile, the Firebirds’ leading scorer, was the only willing shooter and scored 13 of his 19 points. Brock Baker started shooting in the second half and scored 18.
Mostly, though, Molz was unhappy with his team’s defensive communication and rebounding.
“When we’re solid defensively, our offense takes care of itself,” he said. “It’s just being dialed in. When you’re hyper-focused on the defensive end, you tend to make more shots.”
The Firebirds had their defensive moments. After falling behind 12-3, they made enough stops to cut the halftime lead to 22-17. But Sycamore scored the first seven points of the second half to go up by 12. Baker helped get the lead back to five late in the third.
The Firebirds found themselves down by 10 again in the fourth, but rallied to get the score to 42-36 on Gentile’s 3-pointer with 3:54 left. But the Aviators pushed the lead back to 13 with that second 7-0 run.
“I’ll give our guys credit,” Molz said. “We kind of got out of the funk and kept playing, cut the lead down, giving ourselves a chance. We just gave up way too many second-chance opportunities.”
Molz said the work will continue on doing all the little things better and more consistently.
“We don’t have super athletes,” he said. “We’ve got to do little things or it’s a little tough to beat teams like Sycamore.”
The Division I tournament will be full of teams like Sycamore and the teams the Firebirds are battling in the GWOC. Sycamore, or a team like that, could be a team the Firebirds would face in a district final if they can go on a run.
“The good thing about this team is they seem to bounce back and respond,” he said. “We’re just hoping to play our best by the end of the year.”
All-tournament team: Marcus Johnson, Garfield Heights; T.J. Crumble, Richmond Heights; Isaiah-Michael Williams, Beavercreek; Jonathan Powell, Centerville; Jamier Jones, Oak Ridge (Florida).
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