Undefeated St. Paris Graham Stops Canal Winchester 64-50

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Undefeated Graham Stops Canal Winchester 64-50


Yappi.com Photo By Bryant Billing

Ohio State verbal B.J. Mullens (center) brings down a rebound for the Canal Winchester Indians. Mullens scored 29 points, but Canal Winchester lost 64-50

B.J. Mullens led Canal Winchester with 29 points, but he was the only one who could make noise for the Indians

By Bryant Billing

FAIRBORN- "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do." Ah, that is a great old tune by Three Dog Night. It might as well have been B.J. Mullens theme song tonight, too. Mullens, a 7'1 Ohio State verbal, led Canal Winchester with 29 points. But the rest of the Canal Winchester Indians scored 19 points in all, and in the end that was the deciding factor. The Graham Falcons (25-0) took advantage and scored from everywhere else but underneath, and it worked. Graham kept it's perfect record and earned a spot in one of the OHSAA Division II regional final with their 64-50 win over Canal Winchester.

The game was exciting from the start.

B.J. Mullens was called for two fouls right out of the gate. Mullens had to sit for awhile, but not long. Graham capitalized on Mullens departure in the first quarter by taking a lead of 20-9.

With Mullens back in the second quarter, Canal Winchester cut Graham's lead to 29-20 at the end of halftime. You could tell then that this game was going to be closer.

Canal Winchester came out on fire in the second half, and they eventually took the lead mid-way through the third quarter. Graham came back, though, and had a 40-37 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Canal Winchester kept the game close, as Graham had a slim 46-41 lead with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter.

But Canal Winchester couldn't hang on.

Graham buckled down on defense and held Canal Winchester to nine points the rest of the game, as he Indians seemingly fell apart. Graham scored nine points in half that time, and then secured their win by making their foul shots at the end of the game. Graham won the fourth quarter 24-13, and the Falcons went away with the 64-50 win.

Canal Winchester was a one-man team at it's best tonight. Canal Winchester's guards were no match for Graham's tough man-to-man defense, as they could not get a shot to go in to save their lives. Graham was able to maintain the lead by the success of junior guard Josh Schuler. Schuler scored 31 points to surpass Mullens. Those two are both the leading scorers on their respective teams, so it came down to what would everyone else do. In the end, it was Graham who did more. Canal Winchester's guards played a little on the sloppy side when it came to ball-handling tonight as well. Canal Winchester was also sloppy when it came to fouling, as they sent Graham to the line for 27 attempts.

The one guard that did well tonight was Remon Nelson. Nelson has shown to be the guard who can penetrate for Canal Winchester, and he was the one who penetrated tonight for the Indians. Nelson finished with 14 points. The rest of Canal Winchester's team scored a total of 7 points, and only four players total scored for Canal Winchester.

The Falcons tallest player is 6'3 sophomore Ethan Ward (14 points), so the Falcons were stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to defending underneath. They were to apply pressure to Mullens underneath, and did an excellent job of not fouling Mullens when they did. Graham was also able to box-out efficiently, which earned them their share of rebounds.

Graham was able to keep it's lead by it's success from three-point range. Graham made nine three-pointers on the night. Schuler led the way for Graham by making four of those.

Free-throw shooting was another deciding factor tonight, and it was a deciding factor in Graham's favor. The Falcons went 17-27 from the free-throw line, while Canal Winchester went 5-11.

Graham now advances to face the Kettering Alter Knights in the regional final. Alter advanced to the regional final by beating their fellow GCL North rival Chaminade Julienne 50-45 in the second game of the night. The regional final will be this Saturday, March 7, at 3:00. The game will be at the Nutter Center.

Individual Scoring: Canal Winchester- Aaron Gilbert 3; Remon Nelson 14; Darion Cartham 4; B.J. Mullens 29. Graham- Austin Jones 7; Josh Schuler 31; Travis Crooks 2; Ben Rosenberger 8; Casey Crable 2; Ethan Ward 14.