HS Boys Basketball: Clutch Three by Brandon Bielak Lifts North Royalton to 53-50 Win Over Stow

By Don DiFrancesco

Stow                                    10           15           11           14  =      50

North Royalton (home)  10           17           11           15  =      53

NORTH ROYALTON, OHIO – In a game featuring several ties and lead changes, the most important point swing came with 20 seconds to play in the game. North Royalton, trailing 49-48, got a clutch 3-point corner shot from senior guard Brandon Bielak to give the Bears a 51-49 lead.

Stow closed it to within one when 6’-10” senior Evan Bainbridge split a pair of free throws with 0:06 remaining, but that was the last gasp on offense for the Bulldogs. North Royalton sophomore guard Omar Abuhamdeh was fouled with less than one second to play and hit both ends of a one-and-one to give the Bears their final margin of 53-50.

Stow senior guard Bryce Harvey led all scorers in the game with 18 points. Senior guard Jack Bunsey was high man for the Bears with 16.

North Royalton led by two at halftime, and ran out to the largest lead of the game at 36-27 midway through the third quarter. But Stow was able to close to within two at 38-36 heading to the final eight minutes. A layup by Harvey gave the Bulldogs a 5-point lead at 48-43 with 2:48 to play, but North Royalton outscored Stow 10-2 down the stretch to earn the victory.

Stow

Harvey                 6-3-18

Cartwright           6-3-15

Bainbridge           3-4-10

Marconi               1-0-3

Carlson                1-0-2

Costa                    1-0-2

North Royalton

Bunsey                 6-1-16

Bielak                   5-0-13

Garland                4-3-12

Limer                    2-0-6

Abuhamdeh        1-2-4

Kmetz                   1-0-2

ATTA BOY B‼️ Bears win 53-50!! @BrandonBielak7 has a game winning three, congrats to all the boys great game ????? pic.twitter.com/DYgc2IwaW8

— NoRoNation (@NoRoNation) December 8, 2018

@MayorNEOPrep