Boys Basketball: Licking Heights rallies in fourth quarter to win at Harvest Prep
Tuesday, January 2, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Licking Heights’ Alieu Ceesay moves with the ball during the Hornets’ win Jan. 2 at Harvest Prep. Photo: John Hulkenberg
As one of only two Division I teams in the LCL, the Licking Heights boys basketball team is cognizant of how its overall record will be viewed at the district tournament drawing a little more than a month from now.
That’s why comeback performances like the one the Hornets produced Tuesday can’t be underscored.
Licking Heights trailed by 12 early in the fourth quarter but gradually seized momentum and closed out a 59-57 victory over host Harvest Prep in the finale of the six-game New Year’s Eve Bash.
The Hornets, whose only losses are to strong Division I programs Westerville Central and Gahanna, improved to 6-2 with the non-league win.
“Every night matters because we’re trying to fight for seeding in Division I,” coach Shaun Fountain said. “We can’t take a slip-up in the league, and we’ve got to come and play every night, unlike the teams in the OCC where they can lose a game or two and still get a great seed. Every game in our conference matters, and playing Gahanna and Westerville Central, those are both great games. We don’t get to play in those games often, so when we have those games, we’ve got to fix what we can for the next time we play an out-of-conference game.”
The win over the Warriors – a Division III state semifinalist a year ago – is another that should boost the Hornets’ resume.
After the game was tied at 28 at the half, Licking Heights trailed for nearly all of the second half but didn’t let itself get buried.
Licking Heights’ Boubacar Conde lays in a shot against Harvest Prep on Jan. 2 at Harvest Prep. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Harvest Prep, which dropped to 7-4 but has one loss to Division I Westerville South and two losses to out-of-state teams, took a 40-34 lead with 3 minutes, 49 seconds left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by senior guard Adonus Abrams.
Licking Heights got back to within 40-39, but the Warriors closed the third period on a 6-0 run and scored the first basket of the final period.
A pair of free throws by Abrams with 6:14 remaining gave Harvest Prep its biggest lead at 53-41.
“They’re obviously a great team, but we just stuck together and knew we were able to come together and pull a win out,” junior guard Bryce Cahill said. “That’s what we’ve been good at all year, bonding as a team. My teammates got me open and I hit a couple shots.”
After senior guard Alieu Ceesay scored on a putback to make it 53-47 with 4:24 to go, Fountain called timeout to encourage his team that they had what it takes to complete the rally.
Cahill, who split time last season between junior varsity and varsity, then hit a 3-pointer with 2:53 to go to cut it to 53-50 and added another 3 with 2:20 left to get the Hornets back to within 55-53.
Ceesay completed a three-point play to slice the lead to 57-56, and then with 1:21 remaining hit a pair of free throws to give the Hornets their first lead of the second half at 58-57.
“We knew they were an athletic team and we just handled the pressure and played our game,” Ceesay said. “Coach always tells us to keep our heads in the game, and in the fourth quarter, we had a great stretch.”
Harvest Prep’s Adonus Abrams looks to pass against Licking Heights on Jan. 2 at Harvest Prep. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Abrams, a four-year starter who scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half, missed a 3-pointer with 2 seconds to go as the Hornets held on.
Harvest Prep played most of the game without junior guard and leading-scorer Brandon Roddy, who hit a 3-pointer while playing sparingly in the first half but didn’t play during the final two quarters because of an ankle injury.
Roddy is expected to return for Harvest Prep’s MSL-Cardinal Division game Jan. 5 at Grove City Christian, according to Warriors coach David Dennis.
“We were up in the fourth quarter and we didn’t play tough enough,” Dennis said. “We weren’t strong enough with the ball, and they got back in the game. All of our losses are to (teams that are) very good, and down the road this will pay off. It usually does, but we were in position to win this game.”
Ceesay finished with 15 points, including scoring 11 in the fourth quarter, Cahill scored 13, and senior Gama Lovinsky added 12 points for the Hornets, who outscored the Warriors 20-9 in the final period.
“Coming out of the break, the kids are cloudy,” said Fountain, whose team last played Dec. 23. “The holidays are hard. We were down 12, and I said, ‘Let’s forget Xs and Os. We’ve got to play basketball right now.’ They picked it up, and when we play basketball, we’re pretty hard to beat.
“These guys, they don’t stop. One thing we have that most teams don’t have is our guys like to play with each other. We just found a way. You don’t know which guy is going to step up.”
Licking Heights’ Ezra Bobo shoots a free throw against Harvest Prep on Jan. 2 at Harvest Prep. Photo: John Hulkenberg