Before last year, it had been quite some time since the Crestwood Red Devils and Aurora Greenmen boys’ basketball teams had reignited their crosstown rivalry. The Portage County rivalry is as fresh as ever, with the Red Devils avenging last year’s defeat, this time beating Aurora 62-51 last Saturday afternoon in Mantua.
“We were very careless with the basketball from the start,” said Crestwood Coach Josh Jakacki. “We were really just throwing it around the gym. At the beginning of the fourth quarter we should have put them away but allowed them to hang around. It is good to be in those situations as well because they are good learning experiences.”
Before the 2023-24 season, the last time the Portage County rivals had faced each other in the regular season was in the 2019-2020 campaign. For the next three years, the crosstown rivalry had remained dormant but starting last season, the rivalry is back on and it is now even, with Aurora (1-3, 0-2) having won last year’s contest and Crestwood winning this year’s match-up on its home floor.
“They are our neighbors,” noted Crestwood’s 10th-year coach. “We want to try and keep the rivalries going with a lot of the schools that we have a history with and more importantly it feels good to get a victory. Last year they got us at their place and this year we were able to make enough plays to keep them at bay.”
Holding a 52-42 advantage at the start of the fourth quarter, the Red Devils (4-0, 1-0) were poised to finish off Aurora quickly but were plagued by turnovers throughout the period. Crestwood committed 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter and at one point the Greenmen trimmed the lead to single digits sparked by some transition offense on those turnovers.
Jakacki acknowledged that turnovers had been an issue for the Red Devils throughout the game but his squad became incredibly sloppy in the final few minutes.
“We were good in the first four minutes but in the last four minutes, we were not making really good sound decisions with the basketball and throwing it into trapping areas,” he added. “We weren’t taking advantage of the middle. When we did have opportunities, they were getting deflections from poor decisions on our part.”
Despite the turnover woes, the Red Devils held on and were fueled by a 4-0 spurt thanks to a pair of free throws from senior guard James Durham and senior guard Dekota Johnson to seal the victory.
It was a satisfying finish to a game that did not start off with clean basketball, as the teams combined to commit 13 turnovers in the first period, resulting in an 11-11 stalemate at the end of the quarter.
According to Jakacki, Crestwood’s ball movement was lacking, and it settled for too many jump shots.
It was not until the second period that the Red Devils’ offense came alive, sparked by the 6-foot-4 Durham who scored four points in the period and keyed a 13-4 run, pushing the Red Devils to a 34-23 advantage at the half.
All it took was for the senior post player to go to work down low, and it opened up Crestwood’s offense.
“James has come a long way,” Jakacki noted. “He possesses guard skills and does a lot of nice stuff off of the bounce and he has developed himself into a really nice basketball player as well.”
Durham, who scored 16 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out three assists, said it was a game he needed to have after playing poorly in the rivalry game one year ago.
“There were match-ups I know I could score against,” Durham said. “When I knew I could score against them, I said give me the ball and feed me and I just went to work.”
The Red Devils’ offense continued humming in the third quarter and were fueled by a 10-5 run to increase the lead to 48-33 at one point in the third quarter.
Although Crestwood’s turnover problems were prevalent in the game, Greenmen Coach Cody Calhoun said his team suffered as much from turnovers especially in the second and third quarters.
“They forced some and some were unforced on our end,” Aurora’s second-year coach said. “It allows them to get out in transition and Johnson and sophomore guard Brody Durham, when they get into the open floor, they are really good players.”
Ultimately, Crestwood’s offense was sharp enough to preserve its undefeated start to the season while the Greenmen suffered their third straight loss.
After a home game against Chagrin Valley Conference rival Cardinal on Wednesday night, the Red Devils will take on CVC Valley Division foe Kirtland in Mentor on Saturday afternoon at 12:15 p.m. Meanwhile, Aurora will play Suburban League American Conference rival Medina Highland at The Greenhouse on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
