They say people feel better about themselves when they share, but Eastwood's

boys basketball team wanted none of that.

When the Eagles took on Suburban Lakes League rival Otsego last Saturday in Tontogany, an outright SLL championship was on the line for Eastwood. Lose, and the Eagles would have to share the crown with the Knights.

"We didn't want to share it," said Eastwood senior co-captain Clay Rolf. "No one wants to share the league. We wanted to win it for the seniors and the coaches."

For everyone involved in the Eastwood program, the difference between sharing the league title and winning it outright was huge.

"That was our goal from the beginning and we didn't want to share with anybody, especially after going 14-0 last year," said Clayton Ruch, a 6-5 senior co-captain. "After losing to Elmwood, we really wanted to win it outright because we knew we shouldn't have lost to them."

The game at Otsego ultimately came down to one crucial play in the fourth quarter.

Following a missed Eastwood free throw, the Knights grabbed the rebound but the 6-7 Rolf swiped at the ball and tipped it to himself with about 20 seconds left in the game.

"We wanted to pressure them up the floor, so I put some pressure on the basket," Rolf said. "I tipped the ball and luckily came away with it."

Rolf took one step with the ball and went straight up for a two-handed dunk, giving the Eagles a two-possession lead.

"It felt great," said Rolf, who finished with 17 points. "I felt like that was it. There was no way they could score on two possessions in 20 seconds."

Eastwood emerged with a 57-55 victory to clinch the outright title, pushing its record to 14-6 and 11-1 in the SLL. Otsego fell to 11-9 and 9-3.

"It was a great atmosphere over at their place. It was packed," Eagles coach Todd Henline said. "Just a back-and-forth game. There were several runs in that game, back and forth."

The SLL didn't hold a preseason vote prior to this season, but everyone knew that after going unbeaten in the league last season and with most of their starters returning, the Eagles were the team to beat.

Eastwood, however, got off to a shaky start. A tough schedule, which included losses to top-ranked Liberty-Benton and eventual City League champion Central Catholic, played a part in its 3-4 record after seven games. The Eagles also lost back-to-back road games at Rossford and Elmwood.

The Eagles were also killing themselves with turnovers.

"It was a combination of our schedule and too many turnovers," Henline said. "In three of our four losses, we had 25, 26 and 22 turnovers during that stretch."

At that point, the Eagles held a team meeting before practice to clear the air. This wasn't the way they were expected to perform.

"That meeting really helped," Henline said. "We got to pressing a little bit. Then, our turnovers went down considerably, which helped considerably."

Ruch said, "We were pretty frustrated. We have eight seniors on the team and we expected to do well, and we didn't do well at that point. A lot of seniors spoke and a lot of good came from that. We kind of jelled as a team. We said we have to do this for each other. We're seniors and this is our last chance."

Ruch said the Eagles turned their season around with a come-from-behind win at Gibsonburg on Jan. 8. That was three days after the loss at Elmwood.

"We were down 10 in the first half against Gibsonburg, but we stayed together and kept fighting and won by 10," Ruch said. "We pulled it off, and we've been clicking ever since."

Rolf said it was more difficult to win the SLL this season.

"We went undefeated last year and probably ticked some people off, and everybody wanted to beat us," Rolf said. "Overall, the teams were better. There was a lot of good competition in the SLL."

Last week's win at Otsego capped the Eagles' comeback. Henline called the postgame locker room "crazy."

"The kids were having fun and it was a great scene for everybody involved," the coach said. "The ballboys, players and coaches were all having a good time. That's kind of what you coach for, and I hope that's what the kids play for."

Ruch said he and his teammates will never forget that locker room celebration.

"It was an awesome feeling, a feeling like I've never had before," Ruch said. "We sing Ole' after each game, and we were soaking Coach with water. It was just an awesome time."

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed