Chanel defeats Horizon Science 98-77 to advance to their 7th straight district final

[statechamp22]

By Ian Tayek

STRONGSVILLE: 6. The number of straight district final appearances the St. Peter Chanel Firebirds have been to before Friday night. Led by their 3 junior headed monster of Jo’Vaughn Brown, Arthur Jordan and Lamar McKnight the Firebirds defeated the Horizon Science Dragons 98-77 to advance to their 7th straight district final.

It was the Dragons who got on the board first, as Shaquoi Duncan would layup a steal to make it 2-0 Horizon. Chanel would take the lead at the 6:50 mark as junior Jareed Robinson would nail a 3 pointer to make it 5-2 Chanel. Duncan would strike again for the Dragons, as he would drain a 3 pointer of his own to make it 7-5 Chanel with 6:02 left in the quarter. Duncan would then bank in a 3 pointer to give Horizon an 11-9 lead. That lead would be short lived as Arthur Jordan would lay in a basket to tie it at 11. Jo’Vaughn Brown would then nail a 3 pointer to put Chanel up 5 16-11 at the 2:31 mark. Senior John Mosley would end the half on a high note for Chanel as he would lay in a basketball off a fast break to give Chanel a 22-15 lead at the end of the first half.

The second quarter belonged to Chanel. First Lamar McKnight would make an inside basket to make the score 24-15. Then Mosley would again make a layup on a fast break to make the score 26-15, with 7:23 left till halftime. Then McKnight would throw down a 1 hand stuff, to make it 30-15 Firebirds. McKnight would again get the crowd on their feet, this time first blocking an attempted dunk by Shaquoi Duncan, then getting the ball in the lane, and having another 1 handed dunk of his own to give Chanel a 36-19 lead with 4:38 left. For the second straight game, junior Anthony Jolly would play beat the half time buzzer, this time nailing a 3 pointer at the buzzer to give Chanel a 50-23 lead at halftime.

After a Jo’Vaughn Brown layup to start the 2nd half, Horizon would go on a small 6-0 run. Jeff McCarty would make a short jumper, then junior Eric Horton would make his own layup, followed up by another made layup to make the score 52-29 Chanel at the 6:31 mark. Brown again would make his presence known, this time getting fouled while making a layup to make the score 59-33 Chanel with 4:51 to go. After a Nate Novak 3 pointer for the Birds, McKnight throw down another dunk, this time being fouled on the way up. After the dunk it made the score 68-44 Chanel. Chanel would again beat the buzzer this time Brown would sink a 3 pointer with 2 seconds left, to give the Birds a 77-50 lead after 3.

The 4th quarter was much the same, as Chanel would its lead to 30 at one point after a Nate Novak made jumper. The Dragons would fight till the end with made shots by Duncan and senior Brandon Paris, but in the end the Firebirds were too much defeating Horizon Science 98-77.
Horizon Science was led by junior Shaquoi Duncan who scored a game high 22 points, including 4 3pointers. Senior Brandon Paris had a very solid 18 points. Horizon Science ended their season with a 19-4 record.

Chanel was led by their 3 juniors Lamar McKnight, Jo’Vaughn Brown, and Arthur Jordan. McKnight had a team high 21 points while also grabbing 7 rebounds. Jordan recorded a double double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Brown also had 18 points 6 steals and 5 assists.
“I think we did a good job setting the tone early,” said head coach Bernie Tarr “Being up by 27 points at the half helped a lot, hats off to Horizon for fighting hard, but I’m happy for my guys to be heading to our 7th straight district final game.

Chanel will face Lutheran East Saturday night who defeated Oberlin 69-61. “They’re a good team” said Tarr, “Felder is a great player for them, and we have to play good fundamentally to win and go down to Canton.”

Ian Tayek
igt1@uakron.edu