Barberton Advances Past Alliance with 71-61 Victory

Alliance, OH- Friday night's tournament game between the Barberton Magics and Alliance Aviators was a bit of a roller coaster. If one had tracked the 'Win Probability' throughout the night, it would certainly be a bell curve, with the visitors at the high end at the ends of that curve.

The Barberton Magics came into Harry Fails Gymnasium Friday night and jumped out to a quick lead, going up 16-6 within the game's opening 5 minutes. It was Barberton's De'arion Holley and Kardiay Tyler with 2 triples each in that stretch to build the lead. Joey Ondo joined his teammates in the three-point barrage in the opening quarter, netting another two from beyond the arc on his way to a game leading 8 points in the quarter as the Magics held a 22-17 lead.

The Aviators settled in during the 2nd quarter, outscoring the Magics 24-13 in the frame. Kam Burton led the charge with 9 in the quarter, capped off with a buzzer beating triple to extend the Aviators lead to 6 at the half. For the home team, it was JR Jackson (16) and Burton (12), leading the way to the 41-35 score at the break.

Aviator Guard Kam Burton with the steal and buzzer beating triple to send the Aviators into the halftime break with a 41-35 lead.

The Aviators lead ballooned to double digits through the 3rd quarter, as JR Jackson added 7 to his first half total. Barberton entered the 4th quarter trailing by ten, 55-45, with their two leading scorers in foul trouble.

On the road, in a win or go home game, down double digits heading into the final quarter is far from an ideal situation, add in the foul trouble and bleak is a fair adjective. Someone forgot to tell the visitors as they chipped away at the Aviator lead to get it back to a one possession game with just over 2 minutes left.

A 15-6 run to open the quarter got them right back into the thick of it, but the foul trouble reared its ugly head in what at the time looked like the worst way. Holley, with his game leading 24 points, picked up his 5th foul at the top of the key trying to poke loose the ball. The momentum that the Magics worked hard to swing in their favor seemed doomed to take a hit. However, Kardiay Tyler picked up the slack that losing Holley for the remainder of the night caused. For the quarter, Tyler scored 8 of his 18.

The victory sends the Magics to the Districts next week. They await the victor of Saturday night's Bedford-Maple Heights game. The district semifinal match-up is slated for Wednesday February 26th at a site to be determined.