Sunday, March 25, 2001

Knights pressure way to crown

By Pat Magers
Staff Writer

COLUMBUS - There aren't a lot of ways to beat a Warrensville Heights' basketball team. Before Saturday, only one team, Bedford, had managed such a feat. And considering the impressive list of wins the Tigers rolled up on other nights, one could make a case the Bedford session was a bit of a fluke.

But what Kettering Alter did at Value City Arena Saturday afternoon, that was no fluke. In fact, the Knights beat Warrensville at its own game, registering a 62-48 decision and claiming the Division II state championship.

The pressure game, foundation for turnovers and fastbreaks, has been the way for Warrensville (25-2) through the year. That's what earned a state title last year and it is what brought the Tigers to the Schottenstein Center in search of repeat Saturday.

Not this time.

The Knights (25-2) gave up the ball just eight times while inducing 15 Tiger turnovers. Alter owned a 20-11 advantage on points off turnovers and an even more impressive 19-4 edge in fastbreak points.

"We thought rebounding would be our problem," Warrensville Heights coach Dennis Chimes said. "We thought our problem would be getting beat up on the boards, but instead, we beat them up on the boards (37-29 advantage). But the turnovers, we had 15 and they had eight. That was a big key."

The Tigers led 30-25 with 4:38 left in the third period when Alter made its move. The Knights went on a 19-4 run that included baskets by five players. It was all set up by full-court pressure.

"We went to the diamond press because I was afraid they'd take that four- or five-point lead and just hold it," Alter coach Joe Petrocelli said. "That has turned around a lot of games for us this year. We went with a little bigger lineup and I think that made it tougher for their guards. They're quick, but they're small. I wouldn't want to play against (his) guys."

After that burst, Warrensville Heights was unable to close the gap. Twice they pulled to within seven, but no closer.

Adam Waleskowski, who will play at Florida State next year, led the winners with 18 points and eight rebounds. The Knights also got 12 points from sub Doug Penno, 11 from Dave Kohls and 10 from Trey Jones.

"I thought (Jones) hurt us; he just sort of came back to life," Chimes said. "The game before, he must have been asleep because against us, he hit a couple of 3s and a reverse layup and really got things going for them."

Even more important, no one ever got things going for the Tigers. Not even the talented guard tandem of Brian Swift and J.K. Brooks, who were averaging 21 and 20 points, respectively. Swift scored 16, but had a 5-for-17 effort from the field to get it. Brooks was limited to five points on 2-for-16 shooting. Demetrius Johnson led the Tigers with 21 points and 11 boards.

"Our shooting was more than off," Chimes said. "We were 7 for 24 from 3-point and 15 for 50 overall. Sometimes, you do great things and sometimes you can't do the things you did before."

Swift was 4 for 5 and the Tigers 5 for 11 from 3-point range in the first half, but they fell far short of maintaining that pace.

"My theory is if they keep shooting those, maybe we won't foul you so much," Petrocelli said. "We've had games where teams hit 10 threes and only score 42 points. If you keep teams off the line and don't allow a lot of close shots, you're probably going to win the game."