No. 1 Shaker Men’s Basketball Tramples No. 22 Painesville Riverside in Sectional Final
No. 1 Shaker men’s basketball crushed No. 22 Painesville Riverside 86-38 in the second round of the Solon District Playoff Bracket at home March 7.
The Raiders outmatched the Beavers in every aspect of the game, tallying their second highest point total of the season. The Raiders scored their highest total of the season — 89 points — in December against Chesnee High School.
Shaker started slowly, and the Beavers led 8-6 midway through the first — their only lead of the game. The Raiders finished the first quarter strongly with an 8-0 run, and led 14-8 at the end of the first.
The second quarter started with a bang, with senior Esa Ahmad stealing the ball and then delivering a powerful, one-handed slam. The Raider defense continued its full-court pressure, which forced turnovers and allowed Shaker to make easy layup after easy layup. Shaker mounted three dominant runs in the second quarter, 6-1, 7-0, and 12-0. The Raiders held Riverside to only four points in the second quarter and led 41-12 at the half.
At the start of the third quarter, senior Kaleb Roy connected with Ahmad on back-to-back alley oop dunks. With three minutes to go in the quarter, up 55-15, Head Coach Danny Young pulled his starting lineup and sent in the reserves. The third quarter ended with the score at 61-20. The teams traded baskets throughout the fourth quarter.
Ahmad led the Raiders with 26 points. Junior Jeramie Burge added 9 points and junior Braun Hartfield and senior Ricky Stokes each contributed 7 points.
The Raiders will face No. 12 Maple Heights in the third round of the Solon District Bracket March 11 at 7 p.m. at Solon High School.
