Boys district basketball: Cloverleaf beats Coventry in thriller

WESTFIELD TWP. — The third game wasn't the charm for the Coventry boys basketball team, but the third shot sure was for Cloverleaf.The 16th-seeded Colts got a two-hand tip-in from Justus Sohosky on their third shot in the final 8.5 seconds Friday to down the 29th-seeded Comets 49-48 in a thrilling Division IV, Northeast 2 District quarterfinal.Cloverleaf, which beat Coventry 64-49 and 61-51 in Metro Athletic Conference action, will play at third-seeded Cleveland Central Catholic (16-7), a 65-25 winner over No. 24 Holy Name (6-18), on Tuesday at 7 p.m.Sohosky's putback capped an extremely hectic final 12.2 seconds that began with the Colts' Isaac Smith shooting two free throws with his team down 48-46. Smith (11 points on 3-for-9 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) missed the first and made the second, with the Comets electing to use their final timeout.When play resumed, Coventry tried to throw a long inbounds pass, but Cloverleaf point guard Kellen Price (20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), a defensive back for the football team, picked it off just beyond midcourt, took a few dribbles and found an open Smith behind the 3-point line in the right corner.Smith's shot was short, but it landed right in the hands of Price, who was just to the right of the rim. Price missed the putback, but this time the ball landed right in the hands of Sohosky, who was just to the left side of the rim. Sohosky's shot went in with less than three seconds left and the Comets were unable to get off a shot, setting off a wild celebration."It was a perfect miss. A perfect miss," Sohosky said of Price's putback. "Mine just had to go in. I didn't know how much time was left. I didn't know anything. It just had to go in."The Colts were far from at their best, but they were thrilled to advance and earn the right to play Central Catholic, which owns a 65-61 win over 2025 D-IV state runner-up Glenville, which won on the road to hand Brunswick one of its three losses."We've got to get a lot better," said Sohosky, who had seven points, three rebounds and two assists. "We've got to play our best against that team."Cloverleaf advanced because it used a 2-3 zone for most of the second half after 6-foot-4 Coventry forward Brandon Rayam scored 19 points in the first half by hitting his last eight shots, some of them extremely difficult. The move worked to perfection, as Rayam, who had 13 of his team's 15 points in the second quarter, rarely got his hands on the ball and made just two free throws after intermission while missing four shots from the field."He was like prime Michael Jordan out there," Sohosky said of the first-half performance of Rayam, who simply rose up from the elbow or baseline and shot over the outstretched arm of his defender. "He was unstoppable. Contested shots, fadeaways, he was making everything."We wanted to shut him down, and the 2-3 worked."Down 15-10 after one, 30-27 at intermission and 40-39 heading into the fourth, Cloverleaf got a monster performance from 5-9 point guard Price, who hit three 3-pointers and scored on a variety of spin moves and short fadeaways in the lane. The only thing Price didn't do was make free throws, as he went 1-for-5 on a night when the Colts were 5-for-13.Price was an outstanding 8-for-11 from the field, including 6-for-7 in a second half that saw him score 15 of his team's 22 points, but his biggest play was his steal with just under 12 seconds left."It took me back to Friday nights (on the football field)," he said. "The adrenaline, the crowd screaming, all of it felt amazing."Price could have been the offensive hero as well, but when Sohosky picked him up, it didn't matter."I kind of rushed it," Price said of his putback. "I was in the moment and went too fast, but Justus was right there and it all worked out."We were very fortunate for what happened there, but it's exciting when things go your way. I'm just happy we got the win."Center Jimmy Tolley finished with four points and seven rebounds for the Colts and Zayne Trent was huge off the bench, contributing five points, two boards and a team-high four assists, including three straight in the second quarter.Rayam also had nine rebounds and four blocks for the Comets, while center Cody Basinger had 11 points and seven boards. Rayam was 8-for-14 from the field, while his teammates combined to go 6-for-28.Next up is Central Catholic."We're going to come out intense and hopefully play a little better," Price said. "We're looking forward to it."Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.Cloverleaf 49, Coventry 48Division IV, Northeast 2 District QuarterfinalCOVENTRY 15 15 10 8 — 48CLOVERLEAF 10 17 12 10 — 49Coventry — C.J. Ross 1-2-5, Brandon Rayam 8-5-21, Cody Basinger 2-7-11, Aaron Carter 0-1-1, Jayden Johnson 0-1-1, Christian Coteat 0-0-0, Mason Dimeff 2-0-6, Jace Gurganus 1-0-3. TOTALS: 14-16-48.Cloverleaf — Jackson James 1-0-2, Justus Sohosky 3-0-7, Jimmy Tolley 2-0-4, Isaac Smith 3-3-11, Kellen Price 8-1-20, Zayne Trent 2-1-5, Owen Brownson 0-0-0, Damien Reed 0-0-0, Vincent Hinderman 0-0-0, 19-5-49.3-point goals — Dimeff 2, Gurganus, Ross, Price 3, Smith 2, Sohosky. Rebounds — Coventry 26 (Rayam 9), Cloverleaf 23 (Tolley 7). Assists — Coventry 10 (Johnson 4), Cloverleaf 12 (Trent 4). Records — Coventry (6-17), Cloverleaf (12-11).