When two teams are fairly evenly matched, it's usually the team that works harder & gives the better effort that comes away with the victory. Last night in Lancaster, the Golden Eagles of Cleveland Hill visited St. Mary's for a nonleague matchup between a pair of top 10 WNY small schools. And while Cleveland Hill won the battle of hustle, body language, and desire, it was the Lancers who seemed to have timing on their side. Having a player of Takal Molson's calliber didn't hurt either.
Molson hit some big shots in big spots and helped his Lancers prevail over Cleveland Hill, 56-51. St. Mary's improved to 8-3 overall, while the Golden Eagles slip to the same record, 8-3.
"Cleveland Hill came to play tonight. They played a great game - they were beating us down the floor", St. Mary's head coach Paul Rath said of his opponent.
"I would have liked to see a better effort from my guys. I don't think we layed it out on the floor like we have in the past. We have to find a way to get intensity with O'Hara coming tomorrow", Rath said.
The Lancers spent the game making plays at the right times, beginning in the opening quarter. A close game early on was opened up by a 10-0 Lancer run to end the frame, giving them the early 16-7 lead. Austin Oakes had a pair of sweet no-look passes for St. Mary's, and another behind-the-back dish, which, unfortunately the recipients weren't ready for. Molson also whizzed a dime into the paint for an assist worth mentioning early on.
Cleveland Hill began the second quarter with an 11-1 surge to take the lead at 18-17. Oakes stopped the bleeding for the Lancers with a 3-pointer from the left side to regain the lead, 20-18. When a bucket from the Golden Eagles' Jermaine Hairston tied things at 20 apiece, Oakes came right back and struck again - the same way from the same place - giving St. Mary's a 23-20 lead. They would hold a 27-23 edge heading to the locker room at halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, Cleveland Hill took a three-point lead, 34-31, thanks to the slashing of Anthony Sullivan and Daytwon Burney as they got to the basket. With three minutes remaining in the quarter, Molson hit a jumper from the baseline, and then followed it up with a pair of 3-pointers before the end of the stanza, to get his team back in front, 39-37.
At the start of the fourth, Lancer junior Kayson Hill scored a pair of buckets and Molson added another to get their squad back up to a 45-37 advantage. The Golden Eagles kept on coming, and after a tough basket from Hairston and a pair of drives from Ramah Lassiter, Rodney White swished a deep '3' with 1:52 left in the game to bring Cleveland Hill within a point at 47-46. But once again, Molson was there for his team in the right spot, scoring with a crucial putback that was tipped in to prevent Cleveland Hill from a chance to score the go ahead bucket. After the Golden Eagles missed a trey, the Lancers saw Hill convert a three-point play after a great pass from Cam Dunning, to put them back up, 52-46 with a minute to go, effectively sealing the game.
Molson finished with a game-high 18 points and Hill scored 11 for St. Mary's.
Sullivan led Cleveland Hill with 13 points, Lassiter scored 11 points, and White added 10 points in the loss.
-centercourt
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