Heartland Christian won its first district title on Saturday. (Submitted Photo)
SMITHVILLE — The goal was to make school history. And that is exactly what the Heartland Christian Lions boys basketball team accomplished.
The third-seeded Lions continued their hot shooting and ferocious defense to throttle the seventh-seeded Kidron Central Christian Comets 82-52, capturing the Division VII – Northeast 2 district championship at Smithville’s Wilbur Berkey Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
Fourth-seeded Heartland advances to a regional semifinal contest against the second-seeded Fairport Harding Skippers (22-2) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Barberton High School. The Skippers edged sixth-seeded Medina Christian, 67-66, Saturday.
It took three straight trips to the district final before winning the school’s first district title.
“It means the world to me,” Lions senior Isaiah Mathews said. “This is our third year being here, and we were so hungry for this. We all wanted it as a team. It’s just an amazing feeling.”
“This is a dream come true,” senior Corban Seutia said. “I have been in this program for four years now, and every year we came so close. This is so much sweeter, it feels great.”
The victory improves the Lions’ season record to 21-4. They have won 11 straight games.
“I don’t know if you can put it into words, it’s just so cool,” Heartland coach Josh Scott said. “We have been praying about this. Not to win, but just for our kids to be able to play to the best of their ability. We have a talented team.”
The Lions once again utilized their quickness and speed as they capitalized on quick transition baskets on just about every turnover the Comets committed. The Lions’ defense forced the Comets into 14 turnovers in the contest, including six in the opening period.
Offensively, the Lions again had a hot hand shooting the ball as they scored 82 points in consecutive games. They also hit six shots from behind the arc and converted 10 of 15 free throws in the contest.
“Coach Scott has been really pushing us to get better every day. We had that streak where we lost a few games in a row, but we knew what we needed to do to get here,” Seutia said.
However, the Comets showed why they were in the finals as they raced out to a quick 8-4 lead over the Lions just two and a half minutes into the game. But when Collin Kalaher converted a layup into points at the 4:05 mark of the first frame, the Lions grabbed the lead at 9-8. They would not surrender that advantage for the remainder of the contest.
“They are a great team, Central Christian. But we knew if we played the way that we knew we could play, we would win the game. It was just a matter of time,” Mathews commented on the Lions’ mindset early in the game. “It took some time to settle in, but once we settled in, we just poured it on.”
By the time Brody Conaway was able to connect on a basket at the 1:15 mark of the stanza, the Lions’ lead had grown to 10, at 18-8, concluding a 14-0 run by the Lions. They would enjoy an 8-point 20-12 lead at the close of the first quarter.
“Seeing the ball go through the net early helped us to calm down a little bit,” Scott said. “We are that type of team. The first shot goes through, and then everybody kind of exhales. But I think it was just our veteran presence, too. This is our third district championship game.”
The Lions doubled up the Comet 24-12 less than a minute into the second period following a bucket by Kalaher, and they would stretch out their advantage to 14 at 32-18 when Jacob Reed laid in a shot at the 3:52 mark of the period. The Lions would eventually head to the locker room at the halftime break, leading the Comets 38-26.
The Comets would cut the deficit to 9-points with a basket to start the second half, but the Lions answered with a 7-1 to bulge their advantage out to 15 points at 45-30 by the 5:56 mark of the third quarter. When Jack Morgan scored a basket with just 1:40 remaining in the period, the Lions enjoyed a 19-point, 57-38 lead. A basket by Seutia with under a minute left in the period provided the Lions with a commanding 22-point 62-40 lead.
“We came out successful today with a good defense,” Seutia commented. “And we got those rebounds.”
The Comets were not able to mount any serious charge in the final frame as the Lions continued to pull away. With Mathews hitting a three with just under two minutes remaining, and a late basket by Easton Jones, the Lions reached the final 30-point margin.
Collin Kalaher scored a game-high 30 points for the Lions while Mathews and Brody Conaway each tallied 12 points. Also reaching double-digits in scoring was Seutia with 10 points.
The Comets senior center, Ruben Carr, led his team with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Drew Badertscher would score 10 points, including three treys.
Heartland will be going after its first regional victory Tuesday against Fairport Harding, which defeated Wellsville, 79-48, in a district semifinal.
“This is what we dream about,” Seutia said. “We try to get better and better and try to be the best of the best and see how far we can go.”
“Now we have to turn around and say, let’s not stop here. Let’s not be satisfied,” Scott said.
KC: 12-14-14-12–52
HC: 20-18-24-20–82
KIDRON CENTRAL SCORING: Preston Clark 3 0-0 7, Drew Badertscher 3 1-2 10, Ezra Coleman 3 0-0 6, Ben Miller 2 0-0 6, Ruben Carr 9 3-6 21, Lyle Endley 1 0-0 2. TEAM TOTALS: 21, 4-8: 52.
HEARTLAND SCORING: Isaiah Matthews 5 0-0 12, Corban Seutia 3 4-7 10, Collin Kalaher 12 4-6 30, Jack Morgan 2 0-0 4, Brody Conaway 6 0-0 12, Reagan Kalaher 2 2-2 7, Eaton Jones 1 0-0, 2, Jacob Reed 2 0-0 5. TEAM TOTALS: 33, 10-15: 82.
Three-point goals: Kidron Central 6 (Badertscher 3, Miller 2, Clark 1), Heartland 6 (Mathews 2, Collin Kalaher 2, Reagan Kalaher 1, Reed 1).
MENTOR — United Local senior Auston Brown is headed to her fourth state tournament after action on Sunday at …
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Oak Glen senior Noah Schmidt ended his high school career at the top of the podium on …
GALLIPOLIS — Beaver Local produced two champions on Saturday at the Div. II district wrestling tournament at …
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Two Oak Glen wrestlers will go for state titles today in the final day of the West Virginia …