By Phil Keren

Correspondent

After a strong first half sparked by its three seniors on Senior Night, Waterloo was unable to carry that momentum into the second half in a 60-49 loss to Western Reserve on Friday. 

“The good news is what we struggled with, we can fix,” Waterloo head coach Gavin English said. “We’re not losing games (due to) a lack of effort and intensity and will to win. It’s the fundamental things.” 

Only one of Waterloo’s (5-15, 4-11 in Mahoning Valley Scarlet Conference) three seniors — Isaac Hall — is a regular starter, but on Senior Night, Hayden Bryan and Dominic Harouff were rewarded with the call.

“(Bryan and Harouff) came out and they gave us a spark right from the jump, and we went on that little run,” English said. 

After Western Reserve (13-5, 11-3) senior guard Connor Cochran opened the game with a 3-pointer, the Vikings went on a 7-2 run to take a 7-5 lead. Junior Keyshawn King made a trey and a putback, and found Harouff for an open layup. The first quarter ended with Waterloo leading, 12-9. 

Early in the second quarter, Western Reserve senior forward Josh Klasic scored on a runner in the lane to put his team ahead, 15-14. Waterloo answered with a 9-2 run during a 4-minute stretch to take a 23-17 lead. The Vikings’ nine points came on a jump hook from sophomore guard Trevor Flarida, a layup by Evann Gallagher, an and-1 layup by Flarida following a steal and a putback by Hall. 

The teams went to the locker rooms with Waterloo holding a 23-21 lead. 

In the second half, Western Reserve used a bigger lineup, a full-court press and a more aggressive offensive attack to pull away for the victory.

The Blue Devils opened the second half with nine unanswered points on an and-1 layup by senior center Jackson Young, a short turnaround jumper from Young and a 3-pointer and free throw from Cochran.

During that run, Waterloo struggled with its offensive possessions. 

“We had a 3-minute stretch there where we couldn’t score,” English said. “I think coming out at the third quarter we had four or five turnovers … just enough bone-headed plays to keep us out of it. We talk about our margin of error all the time, how we can’t afford to give up the basketball. I think we just lost focus.” 

At the same time, English noted that Western Reserve found its shooting touch in the second half. 

“They ended up hitting a few big shots there,” English said. “They were kind of cold in the first half. The Cochran kid hit a corner 3 to take the lead to (seven).” 

Waterloo weathered the 9-0 surge from Western Reserve and chipped away at the lead thanks to layups from Hall and junior Mason Biltz, and a three-pointer by Gallagher. Western Reserve led 36-33 at the end of the third period. 

In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils put together an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 51-38. Young scored on a post move and a putback, Klasic tallied a layup following a steal and junior guard Aiden Romine connected on a baseline turnaround move. 

Waterloo never cut the Blue Devil lead to less than nine points the rest of the way. Another key to Western Reserve’s victory was playing a taller lineup and feeding the ball to Young in the post. 

“In the second half they went bigger with (Young),” English said. “(They) took one of their guards out and had three big guys. They kind of attacked our guards.” 

The Blue Devils’ full-court press in the second half also created problems for the Vikings. English said he likes to have his team play at a tempo that responds to the way they’re being defended, but added, “you saw it tonight, if we get sped up enough, we end up just turning the ball over and taking a few bad shots.” 

In honor of Senior Night, English praised the strides that Bryan, Hall and Harouff made during their four years with the Vikings. They were freshmen when English became head coach at Waterloo. 

“It’s really special seeing how far these guys have come along,” English said. “…It’s not easy being in the gym on a four-win team every day and working as hard as they do. They’ve been great (in) the four years that I’ve had them and they’ve made a lot of improvements.” 

As the season winds down, English noted his team still has a chance to focus on making solid strides each day. 

“We just want growth every single day… All the pressure’s off, we just go out and play now,” he said. “We only have three seniors, so there’s a lot of room for improvement with this junior class coming up.” 

Flarida led Waterloo in scoring with 19 points while Hall added 8 and King had 6. 

For Western Reserve, Klasic scored 20 points and Cochran had 19, including four 3-pointers.