Canton, OH- In one of the best venues to watch a high school basketball game in the state of Ohio, the Lutheran East Falcons met the Fairview Park Warriors in a Regional Semifinal Wednesday night. The Falcons are looking to go Back-To-Back for the first time in school history as State Champions, and entered the night 4 games from completing that feat.
Earlier in the day, Falcons star post player and Michigan State commit Jesse McCulloch was announced as a finalist for the highly coveted Mr. Ohio Basketball, given each season to the sports greatest athlete. The personal accolades aren't the driving force behind McCulloch's season however, the team goal of another state championship is clearly the sole focus to the Falcons star and his teammates.
It was a two-headed monster from the start for the Falcons, with McCulloch posting 10 points through the first quarter, cleaning the glass and using his height advantage to gather that. Coupling with McCulloch was fellow senior Ronald Taylor, the sweet shooting lefty who hit two triples through the first 8 minutes, to build a 16-9 lead.
Fairview Park had their best quarter of the night in the 2nd quarter, led by Will Allen and Burke Lowry. For the frame, Lowry accounted for 6 points, including a buzzer beating triple to cut the Falcons lead to 14. Allen contributed 7 in the quarter. Remarkably, the Falcons had built a comfortable lead with Taylor and McCulloch doing all the scoring until DJ Jenkins went to the line with 1:04 left in the half and made both of his free throws. Anthony Bruce added in a quick 5 in the final minute to bolster the Falcons lead.
The second half was much of the same for the Falcons. The third quarter featured an onslaught of Taylor and McCulloch. Taylor capped off his 13 point quarter with a 3 in the waning moments of the quarter. McCulloch put a bow on his scoring night with 12 in the quarter.
By midway through the 4th, Coach Sam Liggins had emptied his bench as the clock ran continuously. For the night, Taylor finished with a game high 35 while McCulloch ended with 30. Leading the way for the Warriors were Burke Lowry with 17 and Will Allen with 13.
Lutheran East will take on Youngstown Cardinal Mooney on Saturday afternoon for the Regional Championship at 2:00 pm from the Canton Memorial Field House.
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