NANKIN – The Mapleton boys basketball team had bigger plans for Friday night on its home court – a 4-0 start to the season for the first time since 2016 would have had a nice ring to it.
Instead, the Mounties had to settle for a moral victory against St. Paul, dropping a 62-59 outcome to the Flyers after rallying from a 15-point, second-half deficit to take a late lead.
The loss kept Mapleton (3-1, 1-1 Firelands Conference) from remaining the lone unbeaten in the FC alongside Crestview (6-0, 2-0), but head coach Nick Hickey said it’s one he can live with.
“We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we normally do tonight and we got a little frustrated, which I think made it worse, where we forced some things that we normally don’t force,” he said.
“But the guys that were taking shots are players that we’re comfortable taking those shots, so we can’t be upset.”
Starting its season on a delay after a three-week run in the football playoffs, St. Paul (1-1, 1-0) was playing its first league game.
One night after a 73-40 walloping at Margaretta, the Flyers flashed their grit, building a 42-27 lead early in the third, then scoring the game’s last six points after facing a 59-56 deficit inside the final 2 minutes.
Five of St. Paul’s six scorers had double-digit points and the only one who didn’t – Jacob Bocock – was critical in the last 90 seconds.
The junior guard dished off to junior post Nolan McCall (team-high 14 points) for a layup to cut the score to 59-58, then dropped in his lone field goal of the night on a dribble-drive with 42 seconds to play to put the Flyers ahead for good.
The Mounties had a pair of chances to tie the game – the second one coming off a St. Paul turnover on an inbounds play with 1.1 second left – but missed two 3-point tries inside the final 3 seconds.
“Mapleton did a heck of a job battling back, doing the right things, playing smart, playing good defense, getting stops,” Flyers coach Steve Minor said. “When they took the lead, this team last year might have folded.”
What the Mounties lacked in shooting, they made up for in scrap and hustle. St. Paul was forced into five turnovers in a little more than 4 minutes to begin the game and Mapleton held the visitors to just one field goal over the final 5:32 of the first half.
Defensive pressure kept the Mounties within 33-25 at halftime and allowed them to climb back into things in the third quarter.
After the 6-foot-6 McCall put the Flyers ahead 42-27 a little more than 2 minutes into the second half, Mapleton got the momentum swing of the night from junior Scotty Hickey.
The swift-footed guard, who averaged a team-high 15.2 points per game last season, couldn’t get a floor shot to fall in the first half, managing just a pair of free throws before intermission.
But Hickey’s driving, left-handed layup with 4:34 in the third quarter came with a trio of ensuing free throws – one on a foul, the other on a technical after the foul – and what essentially was a five-point play pulled Mapleton within 42-33.
By the end of the third, the hosts trailed just 49-45, as scrappy play inside from Kyle Sloter (team-high 17 points), Lane Dreibelbis (14 points) and Donavon Mills (5 points, variety of blocked shots and rebounds) led to multiple St. Paul turnovers and short possessions.
“We talked about having a good start to the third quarter and the first minute-and-a-half was terrible,” coach Hickey said. “But then we ended up cutting the lead to four going into the fourth.
“I’m super proud of the kids for battling that change in momentum and not quitting.”
Mountie senior Joe Foster dropped in a putback early in the fourth to tie the game at 49-49, and Mapleton took its first lead since the first quarter at 58-56 when Sloter completed a three-point play with 2:34 to go.
Hickey hit a free throw after that (he was 9-of-11 from the stripe in the game), but the Flyers did the rest of the scoring from there to stomp out the comeback.
Minor felt stopping Hickey was where everything started for his team. The junior already has established himself as one of the best pure shooters in school history.
Earlier in the week, he dropped 44 points in a home win over Rittman that showed his near unlimited range from beyond the perimeter, but he made just a pair of field goals against the Flyers.
“Scotty is a phenomenal scorer,” Minor said. “… Every shot that he shoots I swear is going in. Fortunately, a few missed tonight.”
“The three (defenders) that they threw at him are really good athletes,” coach Hickey said, “and they worked hard to make him work for everything.”
The Flyers had additional key scoring from Korey Frazee (13 points), Michael Kirk (11), Evan Wangler (11) and Brock Houck (10).
Mapleton, meanwhile, will look to get back on the winning track Tuesday when it hosts Plymouth.
Coach Hickey feels there is no reason his team can’t be in the mix for an FC title, something MHS hasn’t won since 1980.
“We did a good job of when we were in a little bit of foul trouble of not wanting to put them on the line,” the coach said. “We played a little bit smarter and didn’t gamble as much and still created turnovers doing that.
“As far as the boys’ IQ growing in basketball, I was really proud of that. … It’s a great group.”
