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Another classic

South Range gets revenge, edging LaBrae, 54-52

Tribune Chronicle / Joe Simon South Range’s Ben Irons, left, dribbles while being defended by LaBrae’s Connor Meyer during their game Tuesday in Leavittsburg. South Range won, 54-52.

LEAVITTSBURG — The Northeast 8 Conference is in its first year of existence, but it’s already paying dividends for the South Range basketball team.

Actually, it may have helped LaBrae as well, even though the Vikings are still part of the All-American Conference.

The two met in what is becoming a rivalry game, and this time, the “battle-tested” Raiders finally edged LaBrae in a another classic, winning 54-52 at LaBrae High School.

South Range (11-4) rallied from a 13-2 deficit and held the lead for much of the second half. Playing teams like Lakeview, Poland, Girard and Struthers on a regular basis allows the Raiders to come back from tough stretches and compete in tight games throughout the season.

LaBrae (11-2), aside from its only other loss — to Edgewood, has rolled over most of its competition this year.

Tribune Chronicle / Joe Simon LaBrae’s Tyler Stephens, background, pulls up for a 3-pointer against the Raiders’ Ben Irons on Tuesday at LaBrae High School. Stephens led all scorers with 23 points, but the Vikings lost, 54-52, to South Range

South Range coach John Cullen felt the discrepancy between the two gave the Raiders an edge down the stretch.

“We don’t really press that much, but we do pressure a lot,” Cullen said. “We made them take some shots that were contested that usually aren’t contested. Some of that is the fact that they’ve played some decent teams, but they’ve really only played two teams — like us and Edgewood — that have those kind of records, so they don’t get that kind of look all the time.

“But if we played (LaBrae) 10 times, we’d probably be 5-5, at best. Tonight was just our night, and our kids have been waiting for a long time to get them.”

LaBrae had won the last four matchups, and the Vikings looked like they were in line for a fifth-straight win.

They hit four 3-pointers in the first 5 minutes as they took their 13-2 lead, but South Range didn’t panic and quickly rallied for a 14-all tie. The low-post presence of Dante DiGaetano and Chris Brooks played a big role in the Raiders’ run, with the two scoring inside and dominating the boards. South Range’s defense also forced several LaBrae turnovers and seemed to rattle the Vikings.

“Their pressure on the ball really forced us out of some of the stuff that we try to run,” LaBrae coach Chad Kiser said. “They really pushed us out away from the basket. They did a good job of that, and they made you work for every shot. Then they really took advantage of some mismatches size-wise, which forced us into a zone.”

South Range trailed by one at halftime but started the third quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 39-30 lead. LaBrae played catchup the rest of the game. The Raiders again went up by nine, this time with just 3:05 remaining in the game, but that’s when Tyler Stephens found his stroke.

The 6-foot-5 senior scored eight straight points, finishing a tough drive in which he was fouled (he made the free throw), and then hitting a 3-pointer and finishing another difficult take to the hoop. The Vikings were within three when South Range was hit with a 5-second call on an inbounds play at the 1:06 mark of the fourth quarter.

LaBrae missed a chance to tie it on a 3-pointer, and South Range’s Brandon Mikos broke open when the Vikings tried to foul, and he easily put in a lay-up to push the Raiders’ lead to 54-49. Stephens hit another 3, but only 1.2 seconds remained, and South Range was able to run the clock out.

“We missed a possession there where we were trying to foul, didn’t get the foul and then they ended up getting a lay-up out of it,” said Kiser of Mikos’ late basket. “That was a big difference. We talked about fouling, but we were late getting the foul.”

Brooks paced the Raiders with 19, while Stephens led LaBrae with 23 — 11 in the fourth quarter.

Kiser wasn’t happy with the loss, but he pointed out how playing better competition like the Raiders will help the Vikings down the stretch.

“They’re a little more battle-tested than we were coming in,” Kiser said. “… This is the kind of game we want to be in. You want those one-possession games where you’ve really got to execute on both ends of the floor, and I’m sure they feel the same way, especially coming out on top of a one-possession game.

“But this is what gets you ready for this time of year,” he added. “We’ve got a tough league game on the road at Edgewood. This is going to get us ready for that, and then also just to get ready for tournaments now that we’re getting into the second half of the season. We need to play these kind of teams. … Hopefully we can learn from it.”

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