Guess who’s best? Five takeaways from Shaker’s District final win over star-studded Garfield
It ended with Shaker Heights’ unsigned sensational wing Christian Guess (2018) pounding on his chest and screaming at Alonzo Gaffney: “I’m the district champ! I’m the district champ!”
Shaker Heights came out and strong and weathered a furious comeback by Garfield Heights to eek out a 63-60 win in the Division I District Final at Solon High school. How hyped was the game? Scalpers were asking for $200 a ticket in the parking lot an hour before the tip.
Shaker’s reward: It advances to play Solon in the Regional semifinal on Wednesday at Cleveland State. Solon’s beaten Shaker twice already this season.
Shaker jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first quarter and led 32-17 at the half.
Garfield, which was ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation in December in one poll, struggled early hitting just 5-of-13 free throws in the first half and getting a combined 2-for-15 shooting performance from its duo of 6’9” junior Gaffney and Brison Waller (2019) in the first two quarters.
Garfield rallied in the second half behind the shooting of freshman guard Demetrius “Meechie” Johnson (2021). Johnson connected on five 3-pointers over the final two quarters and finished with a game-high 20 points.
Garfield trailed by 3 with a minute left, but Gaffney missed on a corner ball 3 which could have tied the contest
Guess then scored a back-breaking layup off an inbound play and converted the ensuing free throw with 33.6 left to preserve the win.
Guess led Shaker with 19, Dakota Cochran scored 14 and Dale Bonner (2018) scored 13.
Here are five observations from Shaker’s win.
1. Guess comes up big under bright lights
Guess has struggled to stay on the floor in big games this season, but played all 32 minutes vs. Garfield.
His versatile and explosive game was on full display in the win. He scored on pull-ups, dunks in transition and was able to find teammates for open looks when the defenders would collapse on him.
Guess’s postgame comments speak volumes on how he’s matured over the course of the season.
“Stay in the game mentally. Don’t get distracted by anything they were talking about or anything the crowd was talking about,” he said when asked how he was able to stay out of foul trouble.
2. Garfield’s strategy of going inside backfired
In the first half, Waller and Gaffney saw inside shot after inside shot clang off the rim or spin in and out. And that slow ultimately cost Garfield, big-time.
“Our strategy was to get the ball inside. I don’t think we finished around the basket the way we were supposed to. We are 6’9”, 6’9”, 6’7”,” said Garfield Heights coach Sonny Johnson.
3. Toughness trumps talent
Shaker was just too tough for Garfield, which Sonny Johnson, noted.
“Shaker deserved it, they played with more heart.
It’s a painful loss, but the tougher team won,” said Johnson.
Guess was blunter.
“I told myself before the game and this is no disrespect to anyone on that team (Garfield), but I said, ‘They ain’t built for this, they ain’t ready for this.’ I worked for this and this what I came to do. I did exactly what I came to do,” Guess said.
4. Bonner big-time again
Bonner, the 6’3” Fairmount State commit, was again outstanding. He’s arguably one of the best ball handlers in Northeast Ohio and continually drew oohs and ahhs from the crowd with his ankle-breaking handles.
He scored 11 points in the first half and helped Shaker get out to the big lead.
“Dale Bonner is the best point guard in the state. You heard it here first,” said Guess.
5. Shaker’s all about team
Up and down the lineup Shaker got contributions. Dakota Cochran (2020) finished with 14 and always seemed to come up with a big hoop when the game got close. Point guard Justin Phillips (2018) got Shaker going early with 5 points in the first quarter and hit a 3-pointer to open the game and had Garfield scrambling from the get-go; Kevin Bishop (2019), a 6’5” forward, scored four points and was able to muck it up inside with Garfield’s bigs.