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3/14/05

BOYS BASKETBALL REGIONAL FINALCANTON McKINLEY 64HUDSON 48

McKinley nets Final Four return


Sunday, March 13, 2005 Eddie Dwyer
Plain Dealer Reporter
Canton McKinley's Raymar Morgan smiled as he looked at the piece of the net he had just cut away from the rim.

As enjoyable as Saturday night's celebration was, the Bulldogs' all-district junior post plans to make one more trip up the ladder this month.

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For Morgan and the rest of Ohio's top-ranked Division I boys basketball team, this weekend is all about taking care of "unfinished business."

McKinley, disappointed in its performance in a loss to Hamilton in last year's state semifinals, earned another trip to the Final Four by pulling away from a gritty Hudson team, 64-48, in a regional championship game at the University of Akron's James A. Rhodes Arena. The game attracted a sellout crowd of 5,256.

The Bulldogs (24-1), who will be making the school's 24th Final Four appearance, will face eighth-ranked Mansfield Senior (24-1) Friday at 5:15 p.m. in a semifinal matchup at Value City Arena in Columbus.

"This year, we're looking to take it home," Morgan said. "We have to be physical and mentally ready. Last year, I didn't think we were there, mentally."

Hudson (19-6), which completed the most successful postseason run in the history of its boys basketball program, moved to a 12-4 lead on a 3-pointer and a driving one-hander by all-district senior point guard Brian Guerin with 2:03 remaining in the first quarter.

With Hudson leading, 16-13, early in the second quarter, the game turned when Morgan was intentionally fouled on a breakaway.

Morgan converted both free throws and then scored on a putback, fueling an 11-0 run by McKinley.

"They were pretty good, better than we expected," said Morgan of a Hudson team that earned the school's first trip to boys regional basketball competition since 1962 and became the first Explorers boys team to play in the Elite Eight.

"Their point guard had great ball concentration," Morgan said. "And their big men, they were real physical."

With Hudson trailing by 10 points, Guerin, the Explorers' catalyst, picked up his fourth foul with 5:05 left in the third quarter and sat out the remainder of the quarter.

Although he would come back to score 11 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, Guerin watched with frustration as McKinley, on the strength of two soft jumpers and a 3-pointer by reserve guard Sedelle Broyles, went on a 9-2 run.

After junior guard Kyrk Freeman scored on a buzzer-beating layup off a picture-perfect assist from junior forward Todd Brown, the Bulldogs led, 45-26, entering the final eight minutes.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

edwyer@plaind.com, 216-999-4677

Morgan's team moves on to the final four.