Lakers fall short to Tigers in DIII district final
Mar. 6—NEW MIDDLETOWN — Pymatuning Valley coach Ryan Shontz embraced his players after they received their Division III district runner-up medals at Springfield on Friday night.
"I'm getting older now, I used to call them brothers, they're more like sons now," Shontz said of his team. "It really does feel that way. As much time as you spend together and as [much of] a joy they are to be around, it really is the best part of my life. Seeing them graduate is also one of the worst. It's pretty rough."
The group led the Lakers to their first district finals appearance since 2008. An early deficit, paired with timely 3-pointers and clutch free throw shooting by Springfield, cut PV's postseason and comeback effort short.
Springfield held on for a 63-53 win to advance to the regional tournament.
After PV took a 13-12 lead on a Mason Inman layup with 7:53 left in the second quarter, Springfield went on a 15-0 run over a five minute span. Over that stretch, the Lakers offense settled for contested jumpers and turned the ball over, which allowed the Tigers to take a 35-19 lead into halftime.
"[I told them] we weren't playing like us," Shontz said. "We forgot who we were for a little bit. We let the moment get a little too big for us. It was the noisiest gym we've been in all year with the COVID stuff. It felt like a real basketball game. It just took a while for them to manage their emotions, and when they did, they started working together the way they know how and it showed."
PV responded in the third quarter. The trio of Inman, Jonah Wilkerson and Tanner Rhoades scored 14 of the Lakers' 17 points in the quarter. They cut the lead to 46-36 heading into the fourth.
Trailing 46-38, Inman stole the ball and launched a deep outlet pass as he was falling forward to Wilkerson on the other end of the court. Wilkerson gathered the pass and made a contested layup to cut the lead to six with 7:20 to play.
Springfield answered with an RJ Smith 3-pointer from the corner on its next possession.
With 2:04 left, Rhoades made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 56-51. The Tigers controlled the ball for the closing two minutes and made six of eight free throw attempts to close the game.
"To fight back the way they did it takes a lot of energy," Shontz said. "When you're expending that energy and you're rotating away and you're double-teaming, trying to get the tips, you're gonna leave someone open. Credit to coach [Steve] French and Springfield. They knocked some shots down."
PV's postseason run may have come to an end on Friday night, but the Lakers' season was an overwhelming positive experience for Shontz and his players.
"I've never been happier to be a teacher and a coach at Pymatuning Valley," Shontz said. "These boys are a special group. They make coming to work such a joy. They're building a tradition at our school where we're moving up, taking steps every year. I hope my young guys see that, and they can follow the example these seniors have set."
The Lakers play their final game of the season at home vs. Lakeside at 12:30 p.m. today.
