FREMONT – When high school sports fans see the score from Friday night’s game between the Little Giants and Toledo Central Catholic, Keyon Sewell hopes they have the same thought.
Maliek Johnson goes up for a basket against Central Catholic. Rich McGowan/RSR
“I hope they know that we’re coming to play now,” Sewell said. “We’ve had to prove ourselves the whole season and I think we’re starting to do that.”
Fremont Ross had one of its best efforts of the season Friday night. Playing a methodical, patient, ball-movement offense and exhibiting a tenacious, hustling defense, the Little Giants defending its home court and took a 45-44 victory over the Irish.
“I thought, for the most part, the defense was outstanding,” Ross coach Mark Gedeon said. “We got just a little lax there in the fourth quarter with some of the dribble-drives, but what really set the tone was from the four-minute mark from the first quarter on. I thought we really played some great defense.”
Jabryis Heidelburg
The Little Giants took a 10-7 lead into the second quarter and grew its lead with the help of a pair of 3-pointers from Davion Anderson and Tre Campbell early in the second quarter. Sewell ended the period with another bucket from long-range with two seconds on the clock to send Ross into halftime with a 23-16 lead.
“At first (this season), we were rushing our shots in the beginning on offense, using less time on the clock. Now we’re starting to get our sets, get open shots and, on D, we’re all playing together,” said Sewell, who finished with a team-high 10 points.
“We’re going in as underdogs but we knew we had a chance to beat them and we played out butts off.”
Ross played outstanding half-court offense, moving away from the basketball, driving the lane and kicking out, finding the open man by making the extra pass. Quarterbacking the offense was junior point guard Jabryis Heidelburg. Playing one of his best games of the season, Heidelburg played smart, patient basketball, displayed terrific control of the ball and distributed it with precision, finishing with eight points and six assists.
“I’m pretty pleased with what I did out there tonight,” Heidelburg said. “I came out with a lot of energy and momentum. I think I ran things pretty good but I have to make my free throws at the end.”
Gedeon called Heidelburg the engine driving the Little Giants’ offense.
“He makes us go,” Gedeon said. “He allows other players to be able to worry about screening or getting open because he is such a good ball-handler. When you think about the six assists and the eight points he had, that’s a 20-plus point ball game because I’m sure some of those kick-outs were 3-pointers. He had a hand in probably 50 percent of our points.”
Keyon Sewell
Early in the third quarter Ross grew it lead to as many as 13 points, 31-18, after a 3-pointer by Bruce Root. But Central Catholic chipped away at the deficit, climbing to within one by the midpoint of the fourth quarter.
Ross could have put the game away late at the free throw line but the Little Giants made just 6-of-14 attempts in the fourth quarter. The Little Giants, therefore, had to survive a last possession, go-ahead 3-pointer attempt by Central Catholic before the buzzer sounded.
Despite their late struggles at the charity stripe, Gedeon was pleased that his team showed the composure to turn the ball over just twice in the second half and just seven times for the entire night.
“We got what we wanted, people shooting free throws,” Gedeon said. “It’d be different if we had four or five turnovers in the last two minutes because of their pressure defense. They tried to scramble us, and they’re a very good defensive team, but we were able to get positive possessions each time.”
The win is Ross’ second in a row and improves its record to 5-10 overall, 2-8 in the TRAC. The Little Giants are right back at it Saturday night as they travel to arch-rival Sandusky (11-5 overall, 7-3 SBC Lake).
“We told our players to enjoy this one, to celebrate this one tonight,” Gedeon said. “When we get them back in here tomorrow before we leave, we’ll go over the gameplan. Sandusky is a very talented team, leading their league right now, playing outstanding basketball with three very, very talented scorers. …They do a lot of nice things and it’s going to be a challenge.”
Fremont Ross 45, Central Catholic 44
CC| 7—9—17—11 44
FR| 10—13—16—6 45
CENTRAL CATHOLIC (44)
Grombacher 1 0-0 2; Norrils 7 3-3 17; Fields 4 1-5 9; Awls 1 0-0 2; Ma. Griffin 1 0-0 2; Cross 1 1-2 3; Cole 1 0-0 2; Marshall 1 3-3 5; Sanders 1 0-0 2. Totals, 18 8-13 44.
ROSS (45)
Johnson 2 1-2 5; Anderson 1 0-0 3; Sewell 2 4-6 10; Heidelburg 2 3-7 8; Root 1 0-0 3; McKinley 4 0-2 8; Campbell 1 3-4 6; Lewis 1 0-0 2. Totals, 14 11-21 45.
3-pointers: CC, 0. FR, 6 (Sewell 2, Anderson 1, Heidelburg 1, Root 1, Campbell 1)