[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

Rally falls short for GlenOak
Saturday, December 2, 2006
By CHRIS BEAVEN

SCOTT HECKEL Copley?s John Morgan (left) swats the ball away from GlenOak?s Kosta Koufos during Friday?s game at GlenOak High School. Koufos scored 20 points in the Golden Eagles? season-opening loss.

PLAIN TWP. The presence of 7-foot-2 Kosta Koufos creates high expectations for the GlenOak High School boys basketball team. Those expectations, though, gave way to reality on opening night in their new gymnasium for the otherwise young Golden Eagles.
With two freshmen and one sophomore starting, GlenOak dug a huge early hole and could not come all the way back against a veteran Copley team. Copley took advantage of early GlenOak mistakes and hung on for 50-48 win in front of a crowd of about 2,000.
?We?ve got two guys with experience and nine guys with no varsity experience,? GlenOak head coach Jack Greynolds Jr. said. ? ... We will be a very, very good team. We?re building. Right now, we?re very young.?
Koufos, an Ohio State recruit, led GlenOak with 20 points and three blocks. And the Eagles showed in spurts why they were picked by league coaches to win the Federal League.
But they also spent long stretches of the night proving they are young. Turnovers, poor decisions, missed shots and not enough post touches for Koufos added up to a 32-8 deficit midway through the second quarter.
?A lot of that?s being young and excited,? Greynolds said. ?We rushed, we didn?t make the extra pass a few times and we were a little hesitant to get it into Kosta.?
GlenOak shot 5-for-25 in the first half, 2-for-13 on 3-pointers, and committed nine turnovers. The turnovers bothered Greynolds most. ?It?s like getting slapped in the face a little bit,? he said. ?Hopefully, it?ll wake us up. We have to take better care of the ball.?
Copley took a 8-0 lead within 2 1/2 minutes and never trailed. The Indians thrived in the early big-game atmosphere.
?This is where we wanted to be,? said Copley head coach Dana Addis, whose team, like GlenOak, won 17 games last year.
With four seniors and a junior starting, Copley dominated the first quarter, leading 23-6. The Indians shot 9-for-13, had a 10-2 rebound edge and forced five turnovers.
?That?s really one of the things we were banking on,? Addis said of his team?s experience. ?That?s why we won. Our guard experience meant everything.?
Senior guard Andrew Moss, a four-year starter, scored 19 points. Nine came in the first quarter. No one else hit double figures, but Matt Warren, John Morgan, Davon Smith and Joseph Horton combined for 28 points and 17 rebounds.
GlenOak started its comeback by closing the half on a 9-0 run. The Eagles finally got Koufos consistent touches. Nine of their 11 second-quarter points came from him.
More Koufos and four 3-pointers by freshman C.J. McCollum got the Eagles within 42-39 entering the fourth.
GlenOak tied the game 48-48 with 2:26 left on a three-point play by Koufos. But two free throws by Moss with 49.9 seconds left gave Copley the win. The Eagles came up empty on their final two possessions.
?I think the second half was indicative of the kind of team we will be,? Greynolds said. ? ... Once we figure out who we are and what we can do, we?ll be pretty good.? Reach Repository sports writer Chris Beaven at (330) 580-8345 or e-mail: chris.beaven@cantonrep.com