Fallsnewspress.com - Falls boys advance, but lose point guard

by Frank Aceto

Associate Sports Editor

Copley -- Cuyahoga Falls head boys basketball coach Rob Slone had the luxury of doing something he hadn't done all season.

He took out his starters and key reserves, one by one, and shook each of their hands late in the fourth quarter.

He clapped his hands, pumped his fists and had a gleam in his eye that hadn't been seen too often over the last three months.

Slone's team had just dismantled an Akron Garfield squad by a convincing 69-57 margin in a Division I sectional semifinal contest March 2 at Copley High School.

But something was bothering Slone after the game.

His most experienced player and the team's heart and soul may be finished for the season.

Senior point guard DaJon Brown was ejected from the game late in the fourth quarter after picking up his second technical foul.

Unfortunately for the standout playmaker, who scored 15 points and dished out a number of assists, he will have to miss the next two games because of the technicals.

The Black Tigers (4-17), who got their first playoff win in four years, were scheduled to play top-seeded Twinsburg in a sectional championship game March 6. Results were not available at press time.

If Falls pulls off the upset, it would be set to play in a district semifinal game March 10 at 7 p.m.

If Brown is going to play another game, it will have to be the district final, which is scheduled for March 13 at 6 p.m.

"It's obviously a big loss," Slone said. "When we played Twinsburg the first time, it was a four-point game with four minutes left and DaJon was a big part of that."

So what happened?

The Black Tigers had a comfortable lead late in the fourth quarter when play got chippy.

Some pushing and shoving took place a few times and unfortunately, Brown was the wrong person at the wrong time on two different occasions.

He got his first technical when a teammate got into a mild scuffle with a Garfield player and drew his second technical when he gave another Garfield player a shove after being hit in the face.

Nevertheless, Falls had one of its best games of the season.

The Black Tigers never trailed and got a stellar performance from senior guard Jess Shingleton, who scored a game-high 24 points.

Shingleton drained four three-pointers in the opening quarter as Falls jumped out to a 14-7 lead.

Shingleton earned his first playoff win in his high school career. He paid tribute to a former player that wasn't so fortunate.

"I remember playing with Steve James as a freshman," Shingleton said. "I always looked up to him. It's a shame that he never won a playoff game."

Shingleton, who scored 16 points in a 69-47 loss to Brush Feb. 26 on the road, had been struggling of late.

Not against the Golden Rams.

He drained two of his three-pointers from the left corner of the floor and also made all eight of his foul shots.

"I love the corners," Shingleton said. "It doesn't matter if it's right or left. I had been struggling lately. On [Feb. 26], I had Andrew Gardner [a sophomore guard] rebound for me. I must have taken 100 shots. I felt like I found my shot after that."

Falls led by as many as nine early in the second quarter (16-7), before Garfield got it to within a deuce (35-33) in the third period.

The Black Tigers, who committed just 10 turnovers and converted 23-of-29 foul shots, promptly took control with a 12-0 run.

Junior forward Kevin Brewton led the Golden Rams with 21 points and senior guard Brandon Emmitt added 17 points.

Falls has seen plenty of Twinsburg (17-3) this season. The Tigers, who captured the Northeast Ohio River Division title, beat the Black Tigers twice. Falls finished 1-9 in the division.

E-mail: faceto@recordpub.com

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