Hartville Eagles hold off two state-ranked rivals

After facing a solid Class 3 Seymour team a week earlier to open Summit Conference play after losing All-State player Mason Cogdill for the season due to injury, the Hartville Eagles’ schedule only became harder last week with a pair of games against state-ranked rivals in Norwood and Mansfield.
Some how the Eagles were able to find ways to win both contests by a combined eight points to move their Summit record to 4-0 on the season.
Last Friday night, the Hartville gym was packed as the No. 1 team in Class 2 hosted the No. 6 Pirates.
Gus Sinning nearly converted a 3-point play to give Hartville a 51-49 lead with 58.3 seconds remaining. He followed the big play on the defensive end with a blocked shot and a defensive rebound.
After Boone Garrison’s pair of free throws with 31.2 seconds left on the clock, Sinning added two more seven seconds later for a five-point edge.
After the Pirates’ Carder Kelly scored to cut the lead to three, Truett Coryell hit a pair of free throws with 11.6 seconds remaining to maintain a five-point lead.
Kelly would hit a late 3-pointer, but it wasn’t enough as Hartville beat Norwood, 57-55.
The Eagles started the game with a 7-0 run with the help of Hayden Johns’ 3-pointer.
Just as Kelly hit one for Norwood to close the gap, Johns hit another to help his team take an early 12-7 lead.
Garrison opened the second quarter with a near four-point play to push the lead to eight.
Kelly then made his own 6-0 run to close the gap to 15-13.
Remington Hill’s basket and Pierce Lawson’s 3-pointer push the run to 11-0, giving the Pirates an 18-15 lead.
Garrison then responded by converting a four-point play this time. He added another 3-pointer around 40 seconds later.
The game would be tied at 25 entering halftime.
In the third quarter, Laken Coatney hit a big 3-pointer to keep the game tied.
As the Eagles had four turnovers, Norwood took advantage with Kelly’s five points to take a 38-33 lead.
With 1:56 left in the quarter, Hartville head coach Brett Reed was whistled for a technical foul. Kelly’s two free throws pushed their edge to seven before the Eagles cut it down to two before the end of the quarter.
Garrison assisted Johns for a 3-point play to help Hartville take back the lead.
Norwood head coach Shane Chadwell would be assessed a technical foul by the same official with 3:48 left in the game. Garrison would make just one of those two free throws before Hartville made their late run for the win.
Garrison led the Eagles with five, 3-pointers for 25 points, three rebounds, three steals and three assists.
Johns tallied 17 points, four rebounds and two assists; Gus Sinning had 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and one block; Brock Jones had three points and three rebounds; while Coryell had two points, two rebounds and one assist.
Kelly paced Norwood with 29 points, four rebounds and four assists; Lawson added eight points, one assist and one steal; Andrew Bradshaw had seven points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists; Coatney had six points and three rebounds; while Carson Vaughan had two points, one rebound and one assist.
Earlier in the week, the Eagles traveled to nearby Mansfield to do battle with the No. 10 state-ranked Lions.
The Lions took a six point lead into halftime before Hartville went on a 13-5 run in the third quarter to eventually win the game, 50-44.
Mansfield’s Haven Proetz opened the game with three, 3-pointers to give the Lions an early 15-11 edge.
Garrison scored six points in the second quarter for the Eagles, but Proetz’s fourth 3-pointer and one from Owen Rhodes helped the Lions to a 27-21 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Coryell scored five points and Johns added four during Hartville’s run to take a two-point lead into the final frame.
There, Sinning scored nine points and Jordan O’Quinn scored all of his seven points to lift Hartville to the win,.
Sinning had 16; Johns had 10; Garrison added nine; Coryell scored eight; and O’Quinn had seven.
Proetz led the Lions with 12 points; Kellen Campbell scored eight; both Brayden Stuart and Jace Headrick had seven points; Fisher Croney and Kaden Young had four; and Malachi Ussery scored two points.