Cornerstone Christian too much for Panthers
Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Bryan Gabrielson, right, of Bristol works to get past Dontavius Henry of Cornerstone Christian Friday night at Grand Valley.
Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Damion Durst, center, of Bristol fights through a pick by Titus Wheeler of Cornerstone Christian while guarding Michael Bothwell.
Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Bryan Gabrielson, right, of Bristol works to get past Dontavius Henry of Cornerstone Christian Friday night at Grand Valley.
Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Damion Durst, center, of Bristol fights through a pick by Titus Wheeler of Cornerstone Christian while guarding Michael Bothwell.
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ORWELL -- The people lined the sidewalk prior to the doors opening an hour and 15 minutes before the long-awaited game, with teenagers wearing lettermen jackets representing Chalker, Newbury, Windham and other schools from the Northeastern Athletic Conference.
They made the pilgrimage to Grand Valley High School to show solidarity to the NAC's best team, Bristol, which has held that title for some time.
The blue bleachers filled up quickly on both sides, even standing room only high atop the one side of the gym filled the opening in the Mustangs' wrestling room. It wasn't a place for the claustrophobic as people's knees were in your back most of the night, unless you were there early and planted in the back row.
Those fixated in their seats saw Bristol in its black, long-sleeved warmup shirts with the saying "Home Grown + 1" on the front in yellow letters, with senior Bobby Evan, a transfer from Maplewood, as the Panthers' plus one.
It was a shot at Cornerstone Christian, which has one of the best players in the state in Michael Bothwell, and some players who transferred from other Cleveland-area schools. The Patriots coach, Dan Selle, said all of his players were eligible at the beginning of the year -- a team shell-shocked about its loss in last year's district final to John F. Kennedy.
This was a Cornerstone team with black T-shirts of their own, which had a saying of The Last Arrow in block red letters.
It was the Patriots who sent the dagger into Bristol in the second quarter, leading to Friday's 50-33 victory in a Division IV district final.
Top-seeded Cornerstone Christian (18-7) went on a 10-0 run to end the first half as the Patriots held a 23-9 lead after 16 minutes.
Bothwell was diving on the floor for the loose ball, trying to help his team hold Bristol's offense to a bare minimum.
Bothwell led with a game-high 13 points, while Ricky Adams added 11. The Patriots were 18 of 34 from the floor and 6 of 14 from 3.
"When you have a quote, unquote, superstar on your team diving on the floor, it's a great thing to see as a coach," Selle said.
Bristol cut the lead to 13-9 with 3:56 left in the second quarter as Bryan Gabrielson drove the lane and was fouled. He didn't complete the 3-point play and the Panthers (22-3) didn't score the rest of the half. For the game, Gabrielson was limited to seven points, while Evan led Bristol with eight.
These are two teams used to scoring in the 70s, but Selle said Kennedy awoke that defensive nature within them -- making these Patriots realize scoring 90 against Mentor and losing by two isn't a moral victory. It's just a loss. That was so last season.
After struggling through December in this campaign, Cornerstone figured out defense does win championships.
The Panthers felt the ill effects of the surge, but couldn't figure out why the rim wasn't so forgiving inside the Grand Valley gymnasium.
It might have had something to do with Cornerstone players face-guarding the Bristol players from 3-point range most of the night. It resulted in a Panthers team reliant on 3-point shooting going 1 of 14 from the arc and 12 of 35 from the floor.
It was a bit confounding. Bristol upgraded its non-conference schedule this season and continues to do so for the growth of this storied program. The confidence to face a powerhouse like Cornerstone, a favorite to win the Division IV state title, was there.
"We couldn't make shots all night long," Bristol coach Craig Giesy said.
The Patriots ran 1-3-1 zone, some full-court trap, but took pride in their defense.
"Defense is about athleticism, but it's also about heart," Selle said. "Our guys showed a lot of heart."
Giesy knew it and he saw it as his 3-point shooter had little to no time to recover and make an attempt because Cornerstone players were so long and fast.
The Patriots sped up Bristol with 11 first-half turnovers and at least half were travelling violations.
"Even when we did kick out of 3s, they were recovering so quickly," he said. "They did a good job getting hands in our face. Even the open looks weren't going in tonight."
Bristol held a normally up-tempo Cornerstone team to 50 points.
This Bristol team threw a 2-3 zone and a box and one sets at a very athletic Cornerstone team, suffocating the Patriots and limiting this fast-break team to eight points after one quarter.
It had to be a near-perfect game for Bristol, but Cornerstone outrebounded the Panthers 26-15.
Despite committing seven first-quarter turnovers, Giesy was shocked his team was only down by five.
It wasn't the night Bristol wanted for a senior group with at least 22 victories each of the last three seasons -- setting a new standard in this successful program.
Giesy hugged Tommy Donadio as one of the key seniors fouled out with a couple of minutes to go -- just after hitting the only Bristol 3 of the game.
Fitting enough, as Giesy emptied his bench, his players and future continued to fight, trap and play as if it were a tie game -- not one out of reach.
The people coming to see Bristol already had exited the building as Cornerstone Christian was climbing ladders cutting down nets in celebration.
Giesy hugged his wife and children and then got one from his father, Mark, after being interviewed -- saying how proud he was of his son.
"We're really proud of our guys and how hard they work," Giesy said. "I'm really proud of our coaching staff. I thought we had a great game plan tonight. My assistant coaches did a really good job on the game plan. We thought everything went our way. Unfortunately, the outcome wasn't where we wanted it to be."