The basketball season for the boys and girls ended too quickly for both North Royalton varsity teams. Both the boys and the girls won games in the State Tournament, leading fans to believe that the future looks bright for North Royalton on the basketball floor.
The boys’ team won their opening game in the State Tournament, defeating Lincoln West out of the Cleveland Senate Athletic League 77-44. Freshman guard Omar Abuhamdeh, and sophomore forward Jordan Garland, led a balanced Bear scoring attack with 13 points apiece and senior center Adam Barrett chipping in with 12.
In the next game, the sectional final, Lakewood defeated the Bears 57-49. North Royalton had a 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the Bears struggled in the second and third quarters and found themselves down by 20 points in the fourth.
North Royalton didn’t cave in. They cut the lead to five at one point against Lakewood, but the Bears simply ran out of time.
North Royalton Boys Basketball Coach Nick Lapsevich was pleased with the 15-9 record the Bears achieved this season.
“A lot of people who profess to know basketball thought we would be lucky to win five games this season. The 15 wins is a testament to how hard our kids worked. They improved a lot as the season went along. I was pleased and proud of the season we had,” said Lapsevich.
The 2018-19 basketball season for the Bears looks bright. “We have Jack (Bunsey), Jordan (Garland) and O (Omar Abuhamdeh) coming back, along with Christian (Christian Limer), AK (Akram Abuhamdeh), Brandon (Brandon Bielak) and Bradley Kmetz. Things will be a little different next year,” said Lapsevich.
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The North Royalton Girls Basketball team made it into the district semi-final round of the Division One State Tournament before their 2017-2018 season came to an end.
The Lady Bears were riding a four-game winning streak before the season ended against eventual regional qualifier, Cleveland St. Joseph Academy 74-41.
In the State Tournament, North Royalton seeded sixth in the Valley Forge District, defeated Garfield Heights 63-44. In the sectional finals, the Lady Bears “upset” third seeded Normandy 61-45 on the Invaders’ home floor.
Junior center Taiyier Parks had a great state tournament for the Lady Bears. Parks scored 33 points against Garfield Heights, 27 against Normandy and 20 points against St. Joseph Academy. Senior Macie Plagens averaged over 9 points a game in the Tournament. Sophomore guard Jaya Harris averaged 7 points a game in the post-season.
The Lady Bears ended the season with a record of 10 wins and 16 losses.
North Royalton will lose six girls to graduation this year. Six letter winners return for the 2018-19 season, including Parks, Harris, Kaitlyn and Lauren Bockelman, Tiffany Radwanski and Isabella Sprunger.
If you’re a basketball fan, there’s plenty to look forward to for both the North Royalton boys’ and girls’ teams next season. The biggest time of year for improvement for individual basketball players is over the summer. Add that to a talented class of underclassmen coming back, and that means good times ahead for the North Royalton basketball teams.
By JOE JASTRZEMSKI
Contributing Writer