Mark another win down for Brunswick

Article by: Brent Bartchak

MIDVIEW, OH- - After beating Cloverleaf 59-40 in their opening round game, the Brunswick Blue Devils advanced to play North Ridgeville (13-9) on Friday night. Brunswick could not pull away for a large lead in this game, but ended up staying on top for a 46-36 victory over the Rangers.

The first half was a close battle until the Blue Devils started to knock down 3-pointers halfway through the second quarter. Ryan Badowski, Alex Hartill, and Matt Dunning all hit shots from beyond the arc to go into halftime with a 28-18 lead. The Rangers started the second half with a 5-0 run, but Brunswick picked up their pace to lead 37-31 at the end of the 3rd quarter. The fans started to go crazy as they anticipated an exciting 4th quarter.

North Ridgeville could not cut their deficit to fewer than 5 and time was running out on their season. Then with 4:35 remaining in the game, the Blue Devils star player Pat Forsythe went down to the ground with an apparent foot injury. He was in pain and his likelihood of returning looked doubtful. He went to the bench and got tapped up and returned to the game with 2:45 left to play. While Forsythe was out, Ray J Brown filled his spot on the court and played good defense to keep the Blue Devils ahead. Brunswick went up 44-36 with 58.1 seconds to go and it was all over from there.

Brunswick now improves their record to 15-7 and most importantly advances in the tournament to play Berea (14-8) Wednesday night at 7pm. The game will be played at Midview high school.

Stats:
Ryan Badowski 3-1-10, Matt Dunning 3-0-7, Pat Forsythe 9-6-24, Alex Hartill 2-0-5

*How Berea (9-seed) advanced:
Berea beat Olmstead Falls 64-60 in their opening game and upset the number one seed Avon Lake Friday 67-58.