Barberton boys are finding their spark on court
PHOTOS BY JOSEPH NICHOLAS
By MAXWELL SCHEIBELHOFFER
BGNN sports writer
Barberton 57, Kent Roosevelt 43 (Dec. 9)
Barberton started the 3-game week on the road against Kent opening up league play.
To open the game Magics were really sharing the ball as for the first 10 points five players each had a bucket.
“We had to come out as a team as they beat us last year so it was kind of personal,” said Magics senior Joey Ondo. “This year we all are playing as a team, and everyone can score so sharing the ball is huge for us.”
Big end of quarter sequence by Barberton where good hustle by Vernon Reynolds on fast break hitting the ball off of Kent player for a turnover and then one possession later, he forces a travel, and it led to a 3 by Antoine James near the end of back and forth first quarter Magics up 13-10.
“Vernon Reynolds is a dog, he’s the best player on the floor these past two games whether it’s rebounding, scoring, or its defense,” Head Coach Chad Hazard said. “I mean without him we’d be 0-2. It’s hard to say much about Vernon Reynolds, that’s just who he is.”
The Magics started the 2nd quarter on a 5-0 run and held Kent scoreless for the first 3 minutes of the second. But they came back with 6 straight to get back within 2. Magics then were also held scoreless for 3 straight minutes until Mareon Peters with a putback. Roosevelt answered with a 3 and they went back and forth. Then late in the second quarter again Vernon Reynolds attacked the rack, getting 3 free throw trips in 2 minutes. At halftime the Magics took a 27-22 lead.
Roosevelt scored the first 6 points out of halftime to take the lead, and the Magics only had 1 point for the first 3 minutes of the second half. Later in the game it was tied at 28 and Roosevelt missed both free throws and Magics couldn’t get a rebound, but it didn’t matter the ball went out of bounds off Kent. Later in the quarter Antoine James offensive rebound and dribbled it out to the 3 point line and drained it which led to a 7-0 run to take the lead they had at halftime 33-28 then 3 more points a pass from Vernon to Canaan Yeager and the Magics tie their biggest lead of the game at 8 36-28 2:57 3rd quarter. Roosevelt answered with a 3. Both teams were having trouble scoring over the last 2:30 until with 30 seconds left in the quarter Reynolds with a steal and layup. At the end of the third quarter both teams scored 11 points in the quarter 38-33 Magics lead.
Reynolds started the fourth, yet another steal then passed it to James for a 3 point play to retake an 8-point lead. On missed free throws a scramble for the ball, but Joey Ondo got away with it and led to a fast break and Mareon Peters found Ondo for a lay and Magics took the biggest lead of the game 43-34. Later, a couple of offensive rebounds and lay in gave the Magics 12-point lead 50-38 with 3:19 left. Later, the nail would be in the coffin as back-to-back buckets by the Magics with 1:30 left gives them back a 12-point lead and start 1-0 in league play. Ondo is the most tenured guy in a Magics uniform. He spoke about being a leader on this team.
“Yes of course I take responsibility, everyone on the team calls me cap in practice, and this is my team and I take pride in that,” he said.
Hazard said more work needs to be done moving forward.
“We have a long way to go, coaching wasn’t the best, substitutions weren’t the best, our best players struggled a little bit,” he said. “We didn’t rebound well. I did think Mareon Peters played really good off the bench. But right now as much as we work defensively we got break downs but until we can compete better on the glass we’re not going to be able to compete with the top teams. It’s just the truth if you’re getting beat on the glass against teams that are .500 at best you aren’t going anywhere but we’ll get better.”
Game leaders
Antoine James 21 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Joey Ondo 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, 1 assist
Vernon Reynolds 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists, 1 block
Highland 60, Barberton 55 (OT) (Dec. 12)
Barberton traveled to Highland to take on defending conference champs.
It started out not ideal as the Magics were given a tech in warmups, so Highland started the game up 1-0 before any time started and it led to Highland scoring the first 5 points of the game in the first 2:12.
Adversity was hitting Barberton straight out the gate as they were getting into foul trouble just in the middle of the first quarter and Highland played into that as they started the game on 11-4 run.
Finally Magics started coming to life as the run was halted by Antoine James lay in and also Vernon Reynolds had 7 of the Magics 9 points in the first quarter and also with the Magics down 13-6 final seconds of quarter Vernon Reynolds 3 pointer as time expired 13-9 Highland end of first.
The second quarter was very back and forth. Later in the quarter Magics got back within 2 thanks to free throws by James with 4 minutes left in the quarter. They tied it one possession later with Jamill Johnson assisted by James, but then Highland answered with a 3. Later Barberton took their first lead of the game thanks to a Uriah Young 3 assisted by James with 1:15 left in the first half 24-22. But Highland tied it before halftime and at half it was tied between the Magics and Hornets 24-24.
There was no scoring for the first 2 minutes of the third quarter until Highland struck first, but then Ondo answered. Later Barberton took their first lead of the second half with a Joey Ondo 3 assisted by Vernon Reynolds. Then Mareon Peters with 2 big offensive rebounds throwing it back to Vernon for 3 and he sinks it and then one possession later fast break Antione to Joey for 2. The Magics took the biggest lead of the game up to 6. Then a couple of possessions later Ondo 3-point play making it a 7-point game 41-34. The Magics take a 41-36 lead into the 4th quarter.
Reynolds opened the 4th quarter scoring with a drive to the basket. Unfortunately in the fourth quarter, Ondo sustained an apparent leg injury on a hard fall to the floor going for a layup and he had to leave the game. It was later revealed according to Joe Ondo that he broke his tibia and surgery was successful. The senior guard may be sidelined 8-12 weeks. Hoping for fast and healthy recovery.
For free throws Canaan Yeager came off the bench and made one of them to keep the lead at 4. Late in the fourth high drama as both teams traded baskets back and forth. But then a substitution issue leads to a tech on Barberton, and Highland goes 1 for 2 on those free throws. Making it a 4-point game again with 1:30 left. The Hornets tied the game with 1 minute left at 53. Later when both teams traded 3’s, Highland traveled with 4 seconds left in regulation and it gave Barberton a chance to win it but came up short and we went to overtime.
The Magics struck first in overtime with Reynolds rebound and fast break, but the Hornets answered and tied it. With 2 minutes left the Hornets then took the lead and then with 1:30 left on a missed free throw, the Hornets grabbed an offensive rebound and Magics foul again, but Hornets made 1 free throw making it a 4-point game. Then the Magics missed a 3 then fouled again and that sealed it. The Magics dropped a heartbreaker 60-55.
Game leaders
Vernon Reynolds 22 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 block
Joey Ondo 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Antoine James 8 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 block, 1 steal
Vernon Reynolds 22 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 block
Joey Ondo 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Antoine James 8 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 block, 1 steal
Barberton 68, Firestone 33 (Dec. 13)
The Magics opened it with 5 straight points and started the game on a 13-4 run. And that ballooned to an 18-6 end of first quarter advantage and Mareon Peters in his first start played with great intensity. Barberton started the second quarter on an 8-2 run, making it 26-8 with 4:55 left in the second quarter. Not much happened in the rest of the first half. The Magics led 33-12.
After Canaan Yeager 3 assisted by Antoine James in 3rd, it made the Magics grab the biggest lead of the game at 25 45-20. The Magics then went on a little run from then on, and it got really out of hand leading to a Magics 53-22 end of third quarter lead. Yeager, a freshman, also had 11 points in that 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter the Magics absolutely drove in the nail, getting up by 39 points at one point with 4:45 left. They were up 66-27. Then both teams emptied their benches, and that pretty much sealed it. Barberton got a bounce back win after losing Ondo for significant time just the night before, again a big loss for the Magics wishing him a speedy recovery.
Barberton is back in action next week as they play two league games. Their league home opener is on Tuesday as they host Revere 2-2 (1-1) they lost to Tallmadge 63-42 on the road in their last game. Then on Friday they travel to Copley 2-2 (1-1) they beat Kent Roosevelt 64-42 at home last game they played.
Game leaders
Antoine James 16 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound
Vernon Reynolds 15 points, 8 steals, 5 assists, 3 rebounds
Canaan Yeager 16 points, 1 steal
