Open Door falls short in final seconds

As Open Door coach Alan Januzzi put it, it was going to take close to a perfect game to knock off No. 8 Lake Center Christian.

The No. 19 seeded Patriots did a lot of things right in their return to a Division IV district semifinal, but at this point in the tournament, the margin for error is slim. Trailing by three in the final seconds, the potential game-tying 3-pointer was no good, ending their season with a 47-44 loss at Struthers on March 5.

Lake Center Christian (16-7) moves on to a district final to take on No. 12 Dalton on March 8.

THE SCORE (MARCH 5)

LAKE CENTER CHRISTIAN 47, OPEN DOOR 44

“They’re a good team and our kids battled,” Januzzi said. “They played extremely well and executed the game plan extremely well — we were right there. I always say that a one-possession game is a bounce here or a missed free throw there. It’s sad in this instance that either team has to lose a game like that because they both played their hearts out and played well.”

Open Door (14-11) didn’t get a consistent 32 minutes of play, but they gave a consistent 32 minutes of fight. Despite giving up an eightpoint lead and trailing by as much as nine in the third quarter, it hung around until the final buzzer.

The Patriots came out red-hot as Julius Moon hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter on his way to a game-high 15 points. Job Pruitt also scored five points in the opening frame, increasing the lead to 17-9 after the first eight minutes.

“I just didn’t want my season to end,” Moon said. “I just wanted to do anything that I could to help my team and keep our season going. Sadly, it didn’t happen, but I just really wanted it to keep going.”

Moon scored again to put the Patriots up, 19-11, but the next 14 points belonged to Lake Center. Not only did it get runouts off turnovers, but key offensive rebounds resulted in baskets during that stretch. The Tigers’ balancing attack of Tanner Norman (13 points), Brody Zook (12 points) and Matt Warder (11 points) spearheaded the run.

Lake Center is playing in a district final for a reason with strong fundamentals. It only had one turnover through three quarters. Open Door only turned it over seven times, but five came during the second quarter’s crucial run.

“I think we got a little anxious on offense and turned the ball over,” Alan Januzzi said. “We kind of stepped out for our game plan for a few possessions. Against a good team, whenever you do that, they’re going to take advantage of it.”

Despite the rough patch in the second quarter, the Patriots stayed in it. They got back to playing like they did to start the game by protecting the ball and playing tough zone defense.

The Patriots cut it down to four early in the fourth, but Zook’s fourth made 3-pointer extended it right back to seven, 45-38. However, Open Door started to do something it hadn’t all night: Turn the Tigers over. It fought back into the game with a late 6-0 run.

Anthony Januzzi finished right behind Moon with 14 points, and he scored four straight to cut it to three. Aaron Pattee later scored while being fouled, but missed the tying free throw to keep the deficit at 45-44 with 1:02 left.

Down by three after a Norman layup, Open Door had the ball for the final 40 seconds with a chance to tie. The Tigers defended well, resulting in a tough hoist from RJ Penney in the final seconds that missed the mark.

“I love those guys, every single one of them,” Anthony Januzzi said. “On paper, we weren’t supposed to be here. We weren’t supposed to win one game in the playoffs. Everything had to come to an end at some point, so you got to take the positives from it. Some of us will move on to college ball and we’re stick around with each other forever.”