PEMBERVILLE – Eastwood came up clutch Friday night, winning 31-29. The Eagles’ Jacob Meyer hit a free
throw with 7.8 seconds remaining to lift his team over visiting Genoa.
“That’s a big win,” Eastwood head coach Todd Henline said.
With the victory, the Eagles improve to 3-0 overall, as well as 2-0 in the Northern Buckeye Conference
this season. The Comets meanwhile suffer their first league defeat of the season, and drop to 2-3 on the
year. The contest is Eastwood’s first in two weeks due to coronavirus-related concerns.
“It showed tonight. A little bit with our shooting, a little bit with our execution, but I give our kids
credit,” Henline said.
Low scoring and rebounding defined the match. Many possessions involved repeated missed shots and second,
third-chance opportunities. The score read 26-25 Genoa after three quarters of action.
“I think in the third quarter we got clobbered. They were really killing us on the offensive glass so we
went with a little bigger lineup to counter that,” Henline said.
“It was a battle both ways, and I think they felt the same way.”
Most impressive for the Comets was Aiden Hemmert who led his team with eight points and wowed with 15
rebounds. Several of Hemmert’s rebounds came on the offensive end, creating second chances for his team.
“They were relentless on the glass, not just him. There’s several guys that rebounded well for them,”
said Henline.
Genoa led almost the entirety of the game, from tipoff until 2:19 left. That’s when junior guard Lake
Boos drove to the basket for a layup, putting the Eagles ahead 29-28. The Comet’s Zach Buhrow tied
things up at 29 with a free throw, but it would prove to be the final bucket of the night for Genoa.
“In the last three minutes of the game, we executed what we talked about in the huddle,” Henline said.
Eastwood had the ball with 7.8 seconds left when Jacob Meyer drew a foul. Meyer swished the second of two
free throws to put the Eagles up 30-29. After gaining possession, the Comets and Eastwood called
consecutive timeouts.
On the inbounds, miscommunication by Genoa resulted in the ball being thrown out of bounds, giving the
Eagles the ball and effectively ending the game.
After being fouled, Case Boos went to the free throw line to ice the game, hitting one of two.
“This was a game we got to knock the rust off a little bit, and we got it going again,” Henline said.
“It’s nice to get back on the floor and let the kids compete.”
