CANTON, Ohio -- Cleveland Lutheran East standouts E.J. Farmer and Nehemiah Benson referred to what “Coach” had wanted from the team in Saturday night's Division III regional championship game at the Canton Fieldhouse.
Sam Liggins wanted defense, and that’s what the Falcons gave him in their 63-51 victory over Mogadore.
"Coach told us that it would have to be defense that would win the game," said Farmer, who scored 20 points and keyed an early 20-0 run that put the Falcons in control.
"We knew they could shoot. That's a big part of how they won a lot of games. It feels good to go back to the Final Four. Defense -- that's what's going to win games like this."
Lutheran East, a state semifinalist last year, will play a semifinal game on Thursday at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center. The Falcons will play Oregon Cardinal Stritch.
Mogadore, which last played in a regional championship game in 1983, finishes its season 20-7.
Liggins knows what it takes to win in March. The first-year head coach was an assistant on Lutheran East's 2017 state title squad. As a player, he led the Falcons to a state championship in 2005, when he was Ohio's Division IV Player of the Year.
"The guys played very good defense," Liggins said of the Falcons, whose playing rotation is often all underclassmen. "Our kids right now are extremely young. They're having fun and embracing the moment. They're playing free."
Farmer, a 6-4 sophomore guard, was followed on the scoring list by Benson, a 6-6 junior forward who scored 17 points.
"We focused on our defense and our game plan," Benson said. "Our chemistry is great. We're all connected. We love each other and that translates onto how we play on the court.
The 20-0 run gave Lutheran East a 26-4 lead with 5:30 left in the second quarter. Farmer started the streak with a 3-point shot. He canned another 3-pointer, and converted a layup off his steal as the Falcons' man-to-man defense stifled the Wildcats in the halfcourt and led to scoring chances going the other way.
Sophomore guard Collin Albert scored 11 points and played a sterling floor game for the Falcons.
Mogadore persevered despite the early deficit, and cut the Lutheran East lead to 51-41 with 2:25 left. Benson, though, made a fastbreak layup as the Falcons beat the Wildcats' press.
Mogadore junior guards Lukas Swartz and Dylan Jones scored 15 and 14 points, respectively. The Wildcats missed 20 of the 22 shots they took from 3-point range.
"We didn't shoot well, but I'm not blaming us, because they were really good," said Mogadore coach Russ Swartz, Lukas' father. "They made us rush (during the 20-0 run) with their athleticism, size and speed."
Ad Choices