By Kalen Lumpkins
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
ROSSFORD — It was a high-energy game at George Wolfe Field House in Rossford, but Eastwood defeated the Bulldogs, 44-36, ending Rossford’s hopes of a two-game win streak to close the season.
For Rossford, they added another to their loss column after snapping their 17-game losing gain against Oak Harbor on Tuesday. For Eastwood, they have won three of their last four, ending the regular season 13-9 overall and 9-5 in the Northern Buckeye Conference. Rossford finishes 2-20 znd 2-12.
Rossford celebrated Senior Night as cheerleaders and players alike were honored before the matchup. There are five seniors on the 2023-24 Rossford basketball squad who were honored.
After a quiet first 90 seconds, the first basket of the game was scored by Eastwood senior Andrew Badenhop. He finished with 18 points.
“We kind of wanted to push the tempo a little bit… and getting good looks after the first half.” Badenhop said.
The home team responded with a layup of their own from senior Teyler Czyznikiewcz, making a feisty home crowd erupt. The Bulldogs are a young team, but they’ve steadily improved until downing the Rockets earlier this week and gave Eastwood all they could in the first half.
The great Rossford start continued with a smooth floater from Xavier Kellermeier. The Bulldogs looked comfortable behind the comfort of their fans.
The first quarter for Eastwood started slow, but a three-pointer from Kadyn Donnell brought the score to 5-5. A Rossford defense that has been shaky all season held strong in the first period.
After Eastwood took an 8-5 lead, Rossford got the lead back with a putback from freshman Parker Theobalds. The Bulldogs had four offensive rebounds in the first two minutes of the second.
Another easy layup brought the Bulldogs’ lead to 11-8, forcing a timeout from Eastwood coach Jason Faykosh. The timeout would not help at first though, as a Kaden Kirkman block kept the energy on the side of the home team.
Dating back to the first, Rossford went on an 8-0 run to bring the lead to 13-8 with 2:30 in the second. A shaky Bulldogs defense looked anything but in the first half.
The Eagles finally stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer from Badenhop. He would end up scoring the last seven points for Eastwood, including a buzzer-beater three that capped off a 16-15 Eagles lead at the half.
“We played a pretty bad first half, but we know what we wanted to do in the second,” said Kaykosh. “We talked about changing the pace, and I think that’s what turned the third quarter.”
The third quarter started with a floater from Theobalds, followed by a quick turnover from Eastwood. A long two from John Fox brought the Bulldog lead to 21-16, forcing another quick Eagles’ timeout.
Eastwood would not score until a Hunter Lauer free throw on a questionable call. The Eagles missed seven straight field goals to start the third.
After the four-minute mark, however, Eastwood went on one of the fastest 9-0 runs you will see. In just 18 seconds, the Eastwood boys would gain a 25-21 lead.
The run would continue with two free throws. Finally, though, a Theobalds layup would end the lighting-fast run.
A Badenhop three-pointer put an exclamation point on an impressive 17-point quarter from Eastwood. They led 33-25 at the end of three.
“I thought in the third quarter we took some really bad shots,” said Rossford coach Jon Reitz. “That leads to them doing whatever they want against us.”
At the start of the fourth, the first points belonged to Rossford, bringing them to within six. Eastwood showed their strength though, as they gained four offensive rebounds in one possession leading to free throws.
This is when the Eagles began to pull away as the first half Rossford defense was nowhere to be seen in the second, as Eastwood began to score at will.
A three-pointer from Theobalds brought Rossford to within seven, and they tried to respond to the Eastwood offense. However, a quick basket from the Eagles proved to be too much for Rossford to overcome.
Eastwood will face Tinora in the Division III tournament on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.
