Entertaining and wild are two words that could describe Friday night’s boys basketball game between host Ellet and Firestone.
Ellet junior A.J. Gareri added another word to describe the game: Awesome.
Gareri’s performance was certainly awesome as he scored a school-record 45 points to lead the Orangemen to a 91-83 victory over the Falcons in overtime.
Gareri, a 6-foot-9 forward, also had 18 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in a game that featured multiple rallies and consistent aggressive play.
“This was an awesome game to play in,” Gareri said. “There was high intensity and it was up and down. This was two good teams battling it out. This is a good win.”
Ellet, Firestone, Buchtel and Kenmore are all tied atop the City Series with one loss each.
Gareri’s point total surpassed the 40 points Bobby Smith and Joe Sokol each scored for Ellet in a single game. Ellet coach Mark Fisher said Smith graduated from Ellet in 1964 and Sokol graduated in 1977.
Junior Jaret Jones contributed 20 points for Ellet (5-1, 3-1), and senior Miller Byrd totaled 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Juniors Marquise Bridges (eight points) and Joe Williams (five points) and senior Jacques Junius (one point) also scored.
“Every guy that got in there tonight gave us something,” Fisher said. “Jacques Junius gets in and got two huge rebounds for us and a big steal at crucial points of the game. He is a guy that normally doesn’t get to play much, but he was ready to go and played great.
“They have very talented players on their side. A.J. just played great tonight ... and Jaret Jones came up huge for us, knocking down 3s.”
Senior Jaylin Moore scored 28 points and added six rebounds to lead Firestone (4-2, 3-1). Raybon Lewis, a 6-5 senior, finished with 23 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks, but fouled out with 4:10 to go in the fourth quarter. Falcons senior Kylan Richburg also fouled out with 1:58 left in the fourth with eight points and nine rebounds.
“They are a good team and we knew they were a good team coming in,” Firestone coach Dave Milo said. “We knew we had to put a lot of pressure on them. A.J. played a heck of a ballgame. He is a heck of a shooter.
“You can’t get in foul trouble like that though. To lose Raybon and Kylan was crucial. That was the dagger right there. [Junior Ricky Evans and sophomore Justin Moore] came in and did a great job, but had a hard time matching up with them, height-wise and physically. We couldn’t get the boards we needed to at the end.”
The game had a playoff atmosphere in December. Ellet erased a 74-67 deficit in the final minute of regulation with scoring from Gareri, Jones, Byrd and Williams to force overtime with the score tied at 77-77.
Jones made two 3-pointers in the extra session, and Williams, Junius and Gareri, who is Fisher’s nephew, also scored in overtime.
“Marquis Smith was out with an ankle injury, but senior Jacques Junius came in and played huge for us,” Gareri said. “He hasn’t got much PT [playing time] prior to tonight.”
Ellet led 16-15 after one quarter and 32-31 at halftime, but Firestone rallied to lead 56-48 following three quarters.
“We started pretty slow, but we played with intensity after halftime and kept going after them,” Jones said. “A.J. and I got some shots to fall, we pressed them [defensively] and we got a couple of big rebounds.”
Firestone junior Tre’Maine Gray scored 12 points and senior Isreal Spear finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
“These are fun games for the fans, but not for the coach,” Milo said.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.