For the first time since 2010, the Akron Tigers wear a sectional crown.
The top-seeded Tigers pulled away in the second half to defeat No. 2 Olmsted 49-38 and win the Section VI Class B1 title Saturday afternoon at Buffalo State University.
“We knew when we were coming in this year, we were going to have a good shot to win this,” said Akron head coach Justin Gerstung. “Third sectional championship ever for the school, ninth league championship, they put some good numbers up this year.”
It was a tale of two quarters in the first half.
Akron (22-1) was a force in the opening frame, jumping out to a 16-2 lead and dominating the paint with big man Derren Brooks, who had eight points in the first.
Brooks finished with 12 points on the night for the Tigers, whose presence under the basket was felt often on both ends of the court.
“It just gives me more motivation to keep scoring and doing what I do,” said Brooks on his hot start. “I just tried my best to play defense and get as many defensive rebounds as I could.”
In need of a massive response heading into halftime, Olmsted got it – and their star guard Tacari McCray led the way. He scored nine of the Owls’ 15 second quarter points, including seven straight at one point, to catapult themselves back into the game.
Olmsted (14-9) held Akron without a field goal for the entire second frame as part of a 15-1 run, until the Tigers’ Syras Jonathan knocked in a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, giving his team a 20-17 halftime advantage. It was Jonathan’s only basket of the game.
“We got out to a really nice start which we thought could happen,” Gerstung said. “When they came back it kind of shook us with a little pressure there. Just talked that out at halftime and wanted to stay confident.”
The Tigers used the momentum from Jonathan’s late triple to retake control in the third quarter, winning the frame 19-7 and ending it on a 14-2 run. Blake Gerstung, Ben Gerstung and Coy Patterson all knocked in treys as part of the run, with Ben, the head coach’s son, leading his team with 15 points on the night.
While McCray managed to find ways to score, ending with a game-high 25, Akron managed to stifle the Owls’ offense otherwise. Olmsted’s 38 points was its third-lowest output in a game all season.
“About halfway through the season, our defense was very loose,” Justin Gerstung said. “(My brother who’s the JV coach) was like ‘We just got to tighten up defensively.’ So we just went back in the lab, got our concepts back down. … They just love getting nasty on the defensive end.”
The win had a little bit more meaning for head coach Gerstung, who not only was coaching his son and nephew, but said that the vast majority of his team grew up playing together in and around Akron.
The 22 wins on the year is a program record for Akron, as it now sets out in search of a first state championship.
“In a small town like Akron where we live and coach and teach, we’ve known these boys since they were born basically,” Justin Gerstung said. “It’s great knowing that we’ve envisioned this for a year.”
Akron will face Class B2 champions Wilson (17-6) in the Class B crossover game, a team they’re familiar with as a rival in the Niagara Orleans League. The Lakemen and Tigers met twice in the regular season, with Akron winning both games by an average of 17 points.
“It’s not the most terrible basketball up in the Niagara Orelans League, we do OK,” Justin Gerstung said. “I’m excited to play (Wilson head coach Brett Sippel). Brett and I have coached against each other for 20 years, I think it’s about .500 against each other. It always seem when I have a good team, he has a good team.”
The Class B crossover is set for 5 p.m. Tuesday at Buff State.
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