Twinsburg Loses Heartbreaker to Walsh Jesuit, 57-55

Two straight losses weren't on Walsh Jesuit's agenda.

The Warriors barely avoided their first losing streak of the season on Wednesday night at Twinsburg High School. Twinsburg, which entered the game with a 7-11 overall record, played the 15-2 Warriors evenly for the entire game. The only difference between the two teams existed in the final score.

"They [his players] did everything that we wanted," said Twinsburg head coach Bob Pacsi. 

Twinsburg understood the level of competition that they were facing and played strong throughout the first quarter. Junior guard Malik Billingsley led of the offensive attack in the first period with six of the Tigers' 17 points. 

"He took what they were giving him, and he got some open looks," said Pacsi. "He's a very good jump shooter." 

The Tigers reached the end of the first with a 17-14 lead.

Walsh Jesuit started the second quarter with a 10-0 run, which put them ahead by seven. Billingsley scored another six in the second quarter, and senior guard Aaron Macer added  four points. Twinsburg cut the Warriors' lead to one before Walsh's Cassidy Brown canned a 3-pointer with less than five seconds to go in the half.

Walsh Jesuit's junior guard Evan Payne also played well, scoring 13 points in the first half. The two teams entered halftime with Walsh leading by four.

The second half began with two quick buckets by Payne, and it seemed as though Walsh was starting to pull away. The Tigers were having no part of a blowout on their home court, and fought back to within three points after three straight buckets by Macer, Jalen Washington and Billingsley. 

"They battled," said Pacsi. "...They could have blown us out, but they (Twinsburg) knuckled in, played good defense, and got the ball back."

The fourth quarter began with a 5-0 run by Twinsburg, but a couple of mistakes on the offensive end resulted in a six-point response by the Warriors. Walsh Jesuit was up by one point with under three minutes remaining in the fourth when Payne missed his second free throw attempt. The ball bounced off of the back of the rim, and multiple players from both teams collided in air as they went up for the rebound. The loose ball was recovered by Payne, who slammed an easy two-handed dunk to put the Warriors up by three.

"There's five white shirts on the ground," said Pacsi "Who gets it? Payne."

Walsh attempted to run the clock out, but an errant pass landed in the hands of Twinsburg center A.J. Edwards. Macer drew a foul at the other end of the floor and sank both free throws, cutting Walsh's lead to one.

Guard Garrett Cona converted his first attempt, but missed his second, and Twinsburg secured the rebound with six seconds remaining. The Tigers exited the timeout with one last shot at either a tie or victory. 

An errant pass by Washington left Billingsley with a contest shot with only two seconds remaining, and his attempt bounced off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded. Walsh escaped with a two-point victory.

"We did a great job I thought," said Pacsi. "We just ran out of time." 

Twinsburg will close out its regular season on Friday at home against Hudson. Wednesday night's game was Walsh Jesuit's final regular season game. The Warriors will begin tournament action on March 5, as they face the winner of the Warrensville Heights/Aurora match-up.

Scoring Breakdown:

Twinsburg:

#5 Aaron Macer: 14 pts

#11 Michael Timm: 7 pts

#21 Jalen Washington: 6 pts

#23 Malik Billingsley: 20 pts

#33 A.J. Edwards: 8 pts

Walsh Jesuit:

#11 Garrett Cona: 19 pts

#20 Trent Donald: 4 pts

#22 Mark Mittiga: 3 pts

#23 Evan Payne: 20 pts

#32 Nick Foschia: 2 pts

#33 Cassidy Brown: 5 pts

#40 K.C. Meyer: 2 pts