Finding a spark at the end of the season is not ideal timing but it is better late than never. The Garfield G-Men boys’ basketball team avenged last season’s loss to neighborhood rival Windham by winning 77-51 in the regular season finale, spoiling the Bombers’ senior night last Friday evening at Marty Hill Court.
“It does not matter what time of the season you play,” said G-Men Coach Andy Olesky. “You want to beat your crosstown rival. Our kids bought into preparing for them and bought into wanting to get this game. The seniors wanted to get it one last time playing them.”
Before last season, the G-Men (7-15, 5-9) had won two straight games against Windham but last year, the Bombers snapped their losing streak and defeated Garfield on its own home floor.
Junior guard Preston Gedeon acknowledged that last season’s loss still stuck with Garfield.
“I know Windham has been a close rivalry since it is right down the road, so it felt really amazing for the team to get this win right before the playoffs,” he added.
The rivals entered the game each hoping to snap losing streaks with the G-Men having lost three consecutive games and Windham (8-14, 7-7) owning a four-game losing streak.
“I don’t know if would really make a difference If both teams had won five games in a row or lost five games in a row,” noted Bombers’ Coach Cody Apthorpe. “I don’t know if you would have seen a large difference just because of the rivalry that is there.
In the first quarter, Windham got off to a quick start to take a 5-0 lead but the G-Men capitalized on their size advantage and earned six free throws at the beginning of the period. They missed the first five shots before the 5-foot-9 Gedeon finally made the team’s first free throw.
“I think our kids were really amped up,” said the G-Men’s 11-year coach. “I think the first two minutes were a result of that and once we got a couple of buckets and finally made our first free throw, we exhaled and enjoyed the atmosphere.”
After Gedeon knocked down the G-Men’s first free throw, Garfield went on a 16-7 run to take a 19-12 advantage at the end of the first period. The G-Men carried their momentum into the second quarter, going on a 13-7 run to increase their lead to 34-19 in the middle of the period.
Although junior guard Carlos Bruton ignited Windham with 17 points in the first half, his teammates combined to only score six points while seven Garfield players scored in the first half, propelling the G-Men to a 39-25 lead at the half.
Gedeon said that one of Garfield’s key points for the game was to make sure Bruton had very little help offensively.
“We were just trying to get a hand in his face when he was outside the arc,” he added. “Don’t let him get into the paint. He is a real good player and he finds a way to score like anytime so we were just trying to do everything we could to stop him and get the ball out of his hands to the other players.”
In addition to Bruton being Windham’s only offense, the G-Men controlled the glass and although they only out rebounded the Bombers by a 37-34 margin, their size and length bothered Windham.
“Coming in we were hoping to try and utilize our quickness,” noted Windham’s second-year coach. “But on Friday night, their size did affect us some and they are a very large team overall and they used that to their advantage.”
Garfield has become bigger in the front court since the start of the year with 6-foot-5 junior forward Cade Rock returning to the lineup in the second half of the season after missing the first half with injuries.
Olesky said having Rock back has been a huge boost for the G-Men and it showed on Friday night when he, junior forwards Aidan Hill and Nick Edic, combined to collect 29 rebounds and sparked Garfield’s fast break with some long outlet passes off defensive rebounds.
“Cade leads the area in blocked shots and he has only played half of the season,” Olesky noted. “That is a testament to what Cade does for us. He is a difference-maker and if things break down for us on the perimeter, he is down there altering that shot.”
Garfield continued to dominate in the third period by igniting the offense with fast breaks and increased their lead to 51-32 in the middle of the quarter and never relinquished control.
The G-Men’s postseason run hinges on their Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III Northeast 2 sectional semifinal against Lakeview on Tuesday night while the Bombers’ playoff run will depend on the outcome of its game against Grand Valley in the Division IV Northeast 1 sectional semifinal on the same night.
