Lorain & Cleveland Heights in a Showdown for the ages. Can we say Instant Classic!?

Lorain came to Cleveland Heights last night probably expecting to be in a dog fight. They probably were aware that they had a target on their back. With that being said, Lorain still seemed baffled a bit when the Tigers took Lorain's best shot in the mouth and just smiled. After beginning the game on a 9-0 run, it seemed as tho it would be an early night for Lorain, but soon the sleepy Tigers awakened and realized they had a game to play. Height's Forward Jae'lyn Withers got the Tigers going after he turned the ball over on one end of the court only to chase down Jordan Jackson on a fast break for a huge chase down block. That block got the Tigers blood flowing and they got going a bit on offense before Lorain turned the facet back on and went into halftime up by 18. Lorain Head Coach John Rositano talked with his team about not settling and keeping their pace even if they're were in the lead.

"We talked the whole halftime about not coming out and getting content with the lead and you wanna add on...they made a couple plays, and we got outside ourselves a bit down the stretch , and that's what good teams do. They came back, made their run, and took the lead. what elite teams do is fight through adversity... got a couple key baskets down the stretch to win."

In the 3rd quarter Cleveland Heights made a great comeback against Lorain and cut the lead down to 10. Lorain G Devon Grant who finished with 28 pts talked about what he needed to do as far as being a leader for his team when they were faced with a big Cleveland Heights run.

"Just to help my team out no matter what we're doing or whatever situation we find ourselves in...it's all about focus, staying focused no matter what. Having a high volume of confidence, the game will come naturally to you."

Confidence was what was exuded late in the game by Grant after being fouled with a tie game with seconds to go, camly drained his two free throws to put pressure on Heights who then missed two free throws aftter a great defensive stop which then secured the win for Lorain. Lorain had survived a Tigers run that brought them them back from an 18 point deficit against to take a 69-68 lead over them late in the 4th quarter. The final score of this exciting matchup was Lorain 75 - Cleveland Heights 71. The way these two teams played tonight told us that their best basketball is still ahead of them, and prob will hit a high about March. Playoff time. Stay Tuned.