LORAIN, Ohio — From the baseline to the rim, Taevon Pierre-Louis gave a loud crowd in Lorain something more to cheer Saturday night.
They came to see the Titans (15-1), ranked No. 2 in the cleveland.com Top 25, take down Garfield Heights on Saturday night with an 87-78 victory.
The matchup attracted West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, whose team played at noon in Morgantown. He made it in time to see a primetime matchup that included Lorain senior point guard Devon Grant, Garfield Heights sophomore Demetrius "Meechie" Johnson Jr. and freshman Sonny Johnson.
Yet Pierre-Louis stole the show.
He scored 32 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out eight assists. Pierre-Louis also threw down three second-half dunks during an eventful Saturday in boys basketball around the area. Here is a look back on it.
Garfield Heights endured a rough first month of the season. Frequent and lopsided losses were plentiful for coach William "Sonny" Johnson and a lineup that included his freshman son, Sonny Johnson.
The coach admitted Saturday night he hesitated to talk up his son's play, something he usually is not hesitant to do with most players on Twitter. Assistant coach and brother Demetrius "Mechie" Johnson first took notice of it.
"My brother said I tweet about a lot of kids, and I need to say more stuff about my son," Johnson said. "He's averaging about 15, 16 point a game. He's been doing that all year, and to see him in atmospheres like this, on the biggest stage against the best teams, to perform the way he's performed is pretty special."
The freshman scored 22 points with six assists.
Garfield Heights (8-9) also is starting to put together impressive wins, including back-to-back road victories against Huber Heights Wayne and Buchtel. The next time the Bulldogs face Garfield Heights, they will be league rivals.
Garfield Heights is set to rejoin the Lake Erie League next winter, midway through the school year and in time for basketball season.
Speaking of big wins at Buchtel, that is what No. 15 Warrensville Heights did Saturday in Akron. Senior guard Brandon Rush scored 30 points and sophomore point guard Ramelle Arnold had 23 to lead the Tigers in a 69-66 win at Buchtel.
Freshman Chris Livingston led the Griffins with 22 points.
The victory marked No. 100 in the coaching career of Warrensville Heights' Brian Swift. The former All-Ohio Player of the Year and 2001 Warrensville graduate, who led St. Peter Chanel and his alma mater to Columbus, is in his eighth season.
'CATS ON THE ATTACK
St. Ignatius supplied the most dominant performance of Saturday, handing Benedictine a 74-38 loss in Ohio City.
Lukas Bielek scored 14 points and sophomore Henry Raynor added 10 for the 20th-ranked Wildcats (9-6), who began to run away in the second quarter. Davin Zeigler led No. 16 Benedictine with 12 points.
Based on zip codes, St. Ignatius can make a "best in Cleveland" claim against Benedictine.
Meanwhile, Gilmour can boast the same for Gates Mills with its 79-47 win at Hawken. Senior guard C.J. Charleston scored 23 points and junior Connor O'Toole added 15 in that one.
No. 22 Holy Name took a battle of Parma against Padua, breezing by the Bruins for a 97-51 victory. Calvin McPherson scored 23 points, Aidan Hickey had 22 and Quentin Richardson added 19 for the Green Wave.
No. 4 Mentor began the week with a tough 69-66 loss to Greater Cleveland Conference-rival Shaker Heights. The Cardinals (14-1) then closed with strong victories against Solon and Lakota East.
Mentor's win against Lakota East came Saturday at home, 67-57. Luke Floriea paced the Cardinals on Saturday with 23 points, while Chad Rogers added 18 and sophomore Luke Chicone had 13.
Consider this: Solon — although it struggled this week — is a Division I state finalist from 2018 and Lakota East has an impressive resume this season.
Click here for Nate Barnes' recap from the News-Herald.
The Thunderhawks (14-6) had a three-game win streak snapped by Mentor. Their last loss came against Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, the defending Division I state champions. No team has beaten Moeller, but Lakota East came the closest at 61-53.
NO. 1 FALLS
Top-ranked St. Vincent-St. Mary took the trip to Pennsylvania and faced Kennedy Catholic, which has played many of Northeast Ohio's top squads this season.
Like St. Edward and Brush, the Fighting Irish fell short against the three-time defending PIAA state champions.
STVM returned home with a 75-72 loss.
West Virginia-bound 6-foot-9 center Oscar Tshiebwe scored 25 points and Duquesne recruit Maceo Austin added another 25. Lunden McDay paced STVM with 18 points, while sophomore forward Malaki Branham added 14.
The Fighting Irish took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter before a 29-17 run by the hosts.
Kennedy Catholic is 3-1 against area teams. It beat Brush a week ago at the Chet Mason Invitational and split with St. Edward, which won a matchup at Elyria Catholic for the Scholastic Play By Play Classic. Kennedy Catholic took the rematch in Erie, Pa., at the Burger King Classic.
Click here for Saturday's scoreboard.
Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on Twitter (@mgoul) or email ([email protected]). Or log in and leave a message below in the comments section.
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