NANKIN – There have been plenty of seasons through the years when the Mapleton boys basketball program couldn’t even get to five wins.
This season, it has taken the Mounties just five games.
Kicking off its Firelands Conference schedule Friday night on its newly replaced home court, Mapleton dominated the final three quarters of a 48-31 victory over Western Reserve.
The triumph gave the Mounties a 5-0 start for the first time since the 1981-82 season and put a damper on the 500th career game for Roughriders head coach Chris Sheldon.
“We had a good summer with all the guys, some great chemistry,” said Mapleton senior guard Scotty Hickey, who netted 28 points Friday and became just the third Mountie to reach 1,000 career points in the season-opener. “I think we’re just out there having fun.”
The FC matchup had the early look of a back-and-forth affair, with the teams swapping the lead four times in the first quarter.
Mapleton didn’t get its first field goal until senior guard Joe Foster (nine points) found Hickey for a bucket off a long outlet pass with 5:23 showing.
But Western (0-4, 0-1 FC) simply never got comfortable shooting the ball, missing all 16 of its 3-point attempts in the first half and going scoreless in the second quarter on 0-for-13 shooting from the field.
That helped the Mounties surge to a 26-12 halftime lead and the ‘Riders finished with their fewest points in a game since their opener in the 2022-23 season.
“They sped us up and we didn’t slow down,” said Sheldon, now 349-151 in his 23rd season leading Western. “We continue to believe that there’s a 10-second shot clock and we refuse to just reverse the basketball. Until we learn to slow down, play with a little bit more mental discipline … we’re gonna continue to battle uphill.”
“I thought (Mapleton) did a tremendous job in their defensive coverages,” he added. “They’re really long with (6-5 Shaw Dreibelbis and 6-4 Donavan Mills in the post) and they do a nice job with those three guards of pressuring out front. That leads to getting sped up.”
While the hosts had their own shooting woes throughout the night (15-of-46 from the field, 2-of-15 from downtown), Hickey nearly outscored the ‘Riders by himself with nine field goals and 9-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line.
It was his third game this season with at least 28 points, as he’s moved into second all-time at MHS in career scoring with 1,086 points – trailing only to Gage Barone (1,354).
Last year, then-senior Kyle Sloter surpassed 1,000 points in Mapleton’s second-to-last game (1,023). He and Hickey both finished as All-Ohioans, and Hickey said he still keeps in touch with his former teammate.
“Kyle’s always going to be my brother … he wished me congratulations on 1,000 points,” Hickey said. “It’s a team effort – I put trust in my guys and my guys put trust in me.”
Sheldon said the Mapleton senior guard is the best player in the FC and continues to give him nightmares two times a season.
“Hickey has worked to be that athletic, that strong, that quick, that explosive, and he can score at all three levels – the 3, the floater and at the front of the rim,” Sheldon said. “We were hoping to wear him down and unfortunately I think he wore us down.”
It wasn’t just Hickey, either. With Dreibelbis and Mills down low, the Mounties outrebounded Western 40-26 in the game, rarely allowing second-shot opportunities.
Dreibelbis finished with roughly 12 rebounds on the night, something sixth-year MHS head coach Nick Hickey said has been a welcome improvement this season.
“Shaw’s done really good on working on his feet and getting in position early,” the coach said. “Last year during JV he started to develop that, but over the summer he got a ton better.”
The only ‘Rider to make more than two shots from the field was junior guard Caleb Pausch (10 points). The rest of the Western starters went a combined 5-for-30 and the team went scoreless from the field for nearly 13 minutes of game clock at one point.
The visitors closed the night 11-of-54 overall and just 2-of-25 from the perimeter.
The Mapleton defense, which collected 10 steals, allowed just 19 points after the first quarter. Western junior guard Chase Hipp had eight points in the effort.
The Mounties have allowed more than 35 points just once in their first five games, something coach Hickey said is a testament to their offseason work.
Mapleton enjoyed a banner season last year, with its 16-8 record its best in over four decades, and its sectional title its first since 2007.
The Mounties are well on their way to a third consecutive winning season, something they have not done since the 1978-79 through 1981-82 seasons.
“Last year was a good year,” coach Hickey said, “but the butt-whooping we took against Cardinal Mooney (82-32 in the district semifinals) was really good for us, too, because the boys were ready to get in the gym the very next night. … That loss, all through the summer, I think it drove them.”
Hickey also commended Sheldon on reaching his 500th game as a head coach. The Western Reserve mentor – second all-time in FC victories (246) to St. Paul’s Mike Smith (269) – estimated his family members have combined for roughly 2,000 games coached.
He said it’s certainly in the blood.
“What a milestone, 23 years and his winning percentage is through the roof,” coach Hickey said. “To do it that long – and he started when he was fresh out of college – he’s just really good. And the way he interacts with his players, I respect it. He’s a motivator.”
Mapleton, meanwhile, is focused on continuing to build on its recent run of success.
Scotty Hickey said the Mountie fans have shown great support at home, where the team now is 14-2 since the start of last season. The squad will try to improve on that in the coming weeks; seven of its first nine games are at home before MHS plays seven straight on the road to begin 2025.
“Consistency goes a long way and we have kids that have bought into the program and they developed when they were young,” coach Hickey said. “This is a group that just wanted to come in and put in work.”
Mapleton hosts Edison on Saturday in nonconference action before another home game Thursday against Plymouth.
(Photos by Rachael Leibolt)
