By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

For any team’s Senior Night, there are certain boxes a coach hopes to be able to checkmark by night’s end.

Celebrate your seniors.

Falcons guard Grady Eader floats in for a shot against Ravenna’s Curtis Ross.
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Win the game.

Have your seniors make meaningful impacts to lead you to victory.

Everyone leaves smiling.

Falcons boys basketball head coach Alex Blake left the gymnasium on Friday with all of those boxes checked after his team’s entertaining 82-73 Metro Athletic Conference victory over visiting Ravenna.

The 82 points were the most scored by a Falcons team since Jan. 21, 2020, when they defeated Rootstown 97-71.

The win was also the Falcons’ ninth of the season, which is the most for the program since they won 10 games during the 2017-18 season.

It was nothing but positive for the Falcons on Friday and it started with an emotional boost from senior Grady Eader.

Field’s floor general and leading scorer entered Friday having missed the team’s previous four-and-a-half games with a leg injury, but returned and quickly made his presence felt.

Falcons forward Ben Stayer focuses on his target as he soars in for a layup against Ravenna’s Tykwon Ward and Sean Jordan.
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In the Falcons’ first two possessions of the game, Eader swished a pair of deep 3-pointers that set the tone for the night.

It sparked a 10-2 start for Field (9-13, 4-10 MAC) and by the time he buried his third 3-pointer of the first quarter, this one coming from heat-check distance at the volleyball line, the Falcons had established a 15-7 lead after 8 minutes.

“To see Grady start the game the way that he did, that was an emotional lift for the entire team,” Blake said. “He got us going offensively. He had been telling us that he was good to go for the game, and it was easy to believe it once we saw how he started.”

It was part of a 15-point first half for Eader that featured him burying his first five 3-point attempts. His only miss of the first half came at the second-quarter buzzer when he heaved a contested, overhead prayer at the rim from just inside halfcourt. Even that almost went in as it hit off the backboard and rim before falling out.

At the break, the Falcons held a 35-20 advantage and while Eader, who finished with a game-high 25 points, was the offensive leader, points came from everywhere.

The Falcons’ second quarter featured a jumper from Alec Grimm, a sweeping left-handed layup from Ben Stayer, a layup for Brayden Ronowski, who was found on a cut to the basket by Stayer. Trevor Dixon added a layup and Landon Wilmoth joined Eader’s 3-point party with a pair from beyond the arc.

The Falcons’ Trevor Dixon soars toward the rim for a second-quarter dunk.
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The ball had positive energy for the Falcons, who had 14 made field goals in the first half and 12 were assisted.

Fortunately for Field, the offensive rhythm continued in the second half because Ravenna’s offense found itself in quarters three and four.

The Ravens scored 53 second-half points, with Curtis Ross (23 points) and Mark Miller (10) leading the way.

Ravenna (5-17, 3-11 MAC) scored the first six points of the third quarter to cut its deficit back to single-digits at 35-26.

However, Field quickly answered.

Jumpstarted by a 3-pointer from Ronowski in the left corner, just in front of the Falcons’ student section, the Falcons went on an 8-0 run to push their lead back to 43-26.

Ravenna remained relentless, though, and cut Field’s lead to 52-44 with 1:11 remaining in the third quarter. The Ravens hung around throughout the fourth quarter, but could never get Field’s lead to dip under eight points.

Largely because the Falcons’ offense continued to produce at a high rate, as well, including a career night from Stayer.

Stayer scored 15 of his 22 points (8-of-12 from the floor and 6-for-10 from the line) in the second half to go along with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

Field’s Landon Wilmoth raises up for a shot over Ravenna’s Jaxon Kelly.
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“We knew Ben could be that kind of scorer all season,” Blake said. “Tonight, he was patient and went through contact. You could sense that tonight was going to be his night. He played fantastic.”

Eader and Stayer combined to shoot 16-of-24 from the floor for 48 points. Eader also added seven assists. Ronowski was a third player in double figures for Field, finishing with 14 points, along with four assists and Grimm also had six assists.

“We were just clicking on offense tonight,” Blake said. “It was our first real runout offensively since the Garfield game (a 76-40 win on Dec. 21). Getting healthy and getting back to an eight-man rotation helped keep our offense fresh and with a mentality to attack.”

For Ravenna, Ross added 11 rebounds and six assists, while Bryant Thompson and Tykwon Ward also reached double-digits in scoring with 11 points each. Additionally, Jaxon Kelly had 11 rebounds for the Ravens.

Field senior Brayden Ronowski releases a mid-range jumpshot on Friday during the fourth quarter.
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