Cagers Squeak by Hametown
Dec 8, 2022—Norton, OH
When everyone else in the gym was ice cold, Cager junior forward, Preston Demiter was red hot leading the Cagers to a 44-37 win over Hametown Christian Academy Saints. Demiter would lead all scorers with 18 points, on a staggering 6 of 7 clip from beyond the arc.
Thursday night games are not the norm for boys high school basketball. Normally boys play on Tuesday and Friday throughout the week with an occasional game on a Saturday. Sometimes when the week isn’t routine, things just seem out of sync, and that is the situation the Cagers found themselves in against Hametown Baptist. Not only that, but the Cagers were without sharpshooting senior Eli Stanley who was unable to play due to being sick.
The Cagers (3-0) started off the game very flat offensively. Nothing seemed to be going in the hoop. That is until Demiter started to heat up. After he drained his first shot of the night, a 20-footer deep in the left corner, the Cagers started to get it going. Taj Gibson, known for his defensive rebounding and ability to outlet the ball, found Ethan Brede flying down the court three times in the quarter for six easy points. Then it was Demiter turn again. Swinging the ball around the horn, the Cagers found Demiter open in the left corner, and once again he drilled it for his second of the young night. That put the Cagers up 13-10 to end the frame.
The Cagers continued their shooting woes into the second quarter. Offensive rebounding was key in the frame as Ruben Belodedici and Jay Hanzie worked hard on that end to fire in a combined six points on putbacks. Other than another fast break bucket from Gibson to Brede, the Cagers relied on Demiter again to make an outside shot. With Hametown still in a 2-3 zone, Hanzie found Demiter wide open in the right corner where he knocked down his third trifecta. A few possessions later, the Saints left him open again from the right wing, and he nailed another. His fourth 3-pointer in as many tries! It was the boost the Cagers needed going into the half. Halftime score 27-18.
The second half wasn't much prettier for either team. The offenses were stagnate, and it was hard for either team to score. Belodedici would outwork a Saint defender for a rebound and a putback. Gibson would do the same. Hanzie got fouled and converted two free throws. But Hametown answered on their end cutting the lead to 34-27 in the last minute of the quarter. The Cagers stopped the Saints and came down and set up the offense. A few reversal passes and inexcusably Hametown left Demiter wide open. Yep, you guess it. Nothing but nylon made the score 37-27 going into the fourth quarter. “The Cagers have had some great shooting performances, but I cannot recall anyone starting out 5 for 5 from the three-point line,” said Hamsher. “It was impressive.”
The Saints would start out in a box and one defense on Demiter to start the fourth. That defensive move really seemed to mess up the Cagers offense and stifle Demiter opportunities to score. On the other end Hametown made back-to-back three pointers and lookie there, we got a ball game with the score 37-33 with just under four minutes to go. A timeout and a quick adjustment led to a Jay Hanzie bucket. After a rare miss on the night for Demiter, he canned his last three on the night to cap a great game. “We did not play well tonight. Thank goodness Preston was on fire. We needed him,” said Hamsher. Besides Demiter’s 18, Brede had 8, Hanzie and Belodedici both had 6, Gal had 4, and Gibson rounded out the score book with 2. Next up for the Cager is a rival game against Reimer Rd.
