'One play away': Missed opportunities cost West Branch boys basketball in district final

CHARDON — It will be a game that simultaneously haunts and motivates the young West Branch boys basketball team for a long time. West Branch saw two opportunities to take a late lead slip away as Warrensville Heights held on for a 51-49 win Saturday in a Division III district championship game at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin High School.

West Branch missed two free throws with 50 seconds left and after forcing a turnover with 22 seconds left, saw a driving layup attempt hit the top of the glass and miss the rim on the way down. That forced West Branch to foul Warrensville Heights senior London Mitchell with just one second left on the clock. Mitchell made one of the two free throws to seal the win.

"The kids did everything we asked of them today," first-year West Branch head coach Scott Loudon said. "They just made one more play than we did today. That was the difference. If we make one more play, we are the ones out there cutting down the nets and sitting around enjoying ourselves. That's sports, though. You learn life lessons from moments like this. The kids will be OK. It's hard right now, but they will move on from this eventually."

With two minutes left, it looked like West Branch would be the team celebrating. West Branch led 49-46 coming out a timeout. A made free throw by Mitchell and a tough 3-pointer by senior Chris Brownlee Jr. with one minute left gave Warrensville Heights a 50-49 lead it would never relinquish.

"I was so excited when that shot went in," Warrensville Heights head coach Demetrious Johnson said. "I knew there was a lot of time left at the same time and we still had work to do. I was confident in Chris taking that shot, though. He works hard on that and he is a player that isn't afraid of the spotlight. He loves the moment and he showed it on that shot."

Brownlee Jr. was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 13 points. Brownlee Jr. is in his first season with Warrensville Heights after transferring from Brush.

"I feel good right now," Brownlee Jr. said. "I think a lot of people doubted when I came here that I could fit this system. I kept pushing through everything and working. I felt comfortable taking that shot when we needed it. I was locked in. The team knows I am capable of hitting that shot and wanted me to take it. I was just happy it went in and I was able to help contribute to a win here for my brothers on this team."

Mitchell added 12 points for the Tigers. Warrensville Heights battled plenty of adversity along the way. Senior post Que Miller fouled out with 4:23 to go in the fourth quarter. Miller had four points, two rebounds and a team-high two blocked shots.

"That's just the pride we have," Johnson said. "These kids are never going to quit on anything. We practice scenarios where we are trailing in practice all the time. We have had plenty of games like this all year. We are used to fighting for everything we get."

Senior guard Jaxon Robb led West Branch with 17 points. Sophomore post Gavin Gregory added 15 points, while junior Cooper Anderson scored 12 points.

"I don't think a lot of people were expecting us to be here in this game when they season started," Loudon said. "We had a young team with just two seniors. I think these kids showed that they can play. Like I said, they were just one play away from continuing on. This one will stick with us for awhile.

"These kids are all competitors, though. They are going to continue on and play baseball, run track or get ready for football season. When next basketball season rolls around, though, I think they are going to be ready to pick up where they left off and they will probably be treating those early-season games like tournament games."

Robb and Riley Hendershott will be the only two players graduating for West Branch.

"Both of those guys did an incredible job leading the team this year," Loudon said. "The kids really gravitated toward both of them. They brought a real winning attitude and team atmosphere to the squad and I think it showed on the court."

Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Warrensville Heights boys basketball win OHSAA district title