‘I thanked the boys for the ride’
by Peter Jakey-Managing Editor
The end came way too soon for the Onaway boys’ basketball team (17-6).
The 2013-14 Cardinal squad, with the best senior-laden lineup to take the court in a generation, could not get by the 3-pointer sharpshooters from Hillman in last Friday’s Class D district title game. The final score was 72-51. Hillman (21-2) advanced and lost in Wednesday’s regional title tilt to Cedarville for the second year in a row.
Supportive Cardinal fans showed up in droves and were hopeful the 25-year wait for a district championship was over. The last celebration, which was the only one, was in 1989.
The excitement level reached a fevered-pitch and the stands at Hillman High School were packed with Cardinal fans trying to help the boys bring the hardware home.
It was not meant to be.
Hillman came out of the gates and blitzed Onaway with 3-pointers. The Tigers’ first nine points were from 3-pointers, and they went up 9-2. They had four in the first eight minutes and led 18-6.
It is far from the way Cardinal coach Eddy Szymoniak wanted to start the contest.
“We knew they probably were going to shoot the lights out and they did, especially during the first quarter,”said Szymoniak. “We dug ourselves a hole early.”
The coach wanted to use his club’s size to pound the ball down low, “Hillman showed they can be a physical team too.”
Hillman may have had an experience advantage, according to the Hillman coach.
“We have been in that situation counting last year (regional final berth),” said Hillman coach Eric Muszynski. “I think experience helped us this year. We’ve been through the battles, we’ve been through the wars. They haven’t quite been here. They have a great team. They have a good group of kids, but I think an advantage we have is we have been through it and it showed early on.”
Szymoniak said his club played in some big games this season. He also added that there is a comfort level playing on “your own home floor.” And Hillman had that advantage. “We had a monster crowd tonight, it was great, but there is a difference playing on your own home court.”
Hillman continued their early run in the second, outscoring the Cardinals 6-2, for a 24-8 lead.
The Red Birds picked it up with a late spurt, starting with a layup from Carlos Bautista. Joe Sigsby found a lane and scored a layup and was followed by a Joe O’Bradovich free throw. Pat Dunn got to the line and made a pair to and the Cards cut the Tigers’ lead from 18 to 15; however, Hillman’s Mason VanPamel scored a field goal before halftime and the score was 28-13.
O’Bradovich picked up his scoring in the third with 10 of his 15 points, but Hillman seemed to have an answer everytime and Onaway could never get the margin below double digits.
Hillman’s Ty Jones had 19 points in the second half, including three, 3-pointers. He had a game-high 28. Bautista had 15 and Chris Cleaver added eight.
“We wanted this pretty bad,” said Szymoniak. “We knew this was our shot. We got beat by a good Hillman team.
“I thanked the boys for the ride. This has nothing to do about me. It is the boys who did the work and played. I was just glad to
Andrew Prow also set the new single-season record for 3-pointers in the second half of the game. He stands alone with 60, passing Marty Mix, who had 59.
Szymoniak will lose senior starters Cleaver, Prow, O’Bradovich and Bautista, as well as Tyler Welklin and Micah Satchwell.
Looking ahead, the coach has some solid players to build around with Sigsby, Dunn and Cody Morell, but he knows it will take some work “to get right back in this situation. That Hillman team is going to be back with everyone. They are going to have to work their tails off all summer.”