Despite a season filled with record-setting accomplishments, the Crestwood Red Devils boys’ basketball team’s season ended with them falling short of setting one more milestone. The Red Devils lost 79-62 against Chagrin Valley Conference rival Geneva in a crossover game last Friday evening in Geneva.
“We had a great week of practice,” said Coach Josh Jakacki. “In our last couple of games, the first quarters have not been the best and that falls on my shoulders. I have to get the guys a little bit more mentally ready. We just came out and gave up 19 points and we did enough to battle back but overall, our defensive energy and our inability to locate the ball in transition came back and bit us in the butt there.”
Having won the CVC Valley Division title for the first time since joining the CVC in the 2020-21 season, the Red Devils (19-3, 10-0) also matched a program record with 19 wins, the first time since their final season in the Portage Trail Conference County Division.
A win against the Eagles would have pushed Crestwood to setting a new benchmark but a slow start and lack of depth was too much for the Red Devils to overcome. Having already lost senior guard Ty Fanin for the rest of the season due to injuries, Crestwood was also without junior forward James Durham, sophomore guard Jake Eyerman, and senior guard Jimmy Peters because of injuries and illnesses.
Despite missing the season finale. Jakacki said the team expected to have all three players return to the lineup for its first playoff game.
According to the ninth-year coach, he did not use missing some key rotation players as an excuse for the Red Devils’ loss but acknowledged not having Durham, Peters and Eyerman hurt Crestwood from a rebounding perspective.
“We were one and done on the offensive end and we started to settle a little bit from three-point land which is not a horrible thing because we shoot the ball pretty well,” noted Jakacki. “We did not have guys that were aggressively crashing the glass.”
On Friday night, after the Eagles raced out to a 19-13 lead in the first quarter, Crestwood responded with a strong defensive second period, limiting Geneva to only 12 points and trimmed the deficit to four points fueled by junior guard Dekota Johnson, who scored 11 points.
“Any time you have a player like Dekota who has the ability to score a bunch it alleviates any pressure you have when you are struggling on the offensive end,” Jakacki said. “He stayed focused and hit some clutch shots back-to-back and kept us connected when that game easily could turned.”
Geneva seized momentum in first four minutes of the third period, increasing its lead to double digits. The Red Devils countered by once again cutting the lead to just two points, but they could not sustain their defense.
Jakacki said his squad did not locate the ball in transition and the Eagles pounced, pushing their lead back to eight points at the end of the quarter and continued rolling in the fourth period and Crestwood could not offer another response.
“They punched us in the gut, and we responded but they kept fighting and fighting and they finally gave us a knockout punch with about four minutes to go left in the fourth quarter,” Jakacki said.
Although the Red Devils did not reach their 20th victory in the regular season, it did not diminish the turnaround season they had after recording only five victories in the last two seasons.
Although Crestwood experienced significant hurdles in the last two seasons, Jakacki said those two seasons were some of the greatest years he had ever experienced. He added that it allowed the Red Devils to learn how to maximize their talents and continue to battle in games that they were overmatched in. Victories were still hard to come by, but it made the Red Devils a stronger team because of it, and it has now set up the Red Devils for future success.
“We have a lot of guys that are coming back that are key contributors that not only gained experience on the court but how to win close games,” he said.
He would not go as far to say that it guaranteed more winning seasons but the players that experienced those two seasons understand what is expected and know how to not let history repeat itself and can instill those lessons to the underclassmen.
The Red Devils will compete in the Division III Northeast 1 sectional final against either Smithville or Fairless on Friday evening in Mantua at 7 p.m.
