WEB EXCLUSIVE Lutheran West . 64 Rocky River . . . 46

Rocky River senior Kyle Frohnapple is called for an intentional foul against Lutheran West senior Richard Semrau. (Photos by Larry Bennet)

Back during the magical 1997-1998 season when Lutheran West made their only boys basketball state final four appearance, the Longhorns had only one regular season hiccup.

West coach Phil Argento Sr. remembers the game well, since his son Phil Jr. was the engine that drove those Longhorns.

"On an inbounds pass, Sean Kennedy came hard to his left and since he didn't have a left cranked it up with his right and banked it in," Argento said."If you let teams stay around, things can get crazy at the end of the game and anything can happen."

Argento did not want to see a repeat and wanted to keep momentum away from the Pirates. It helps to have the tallest player on the court, but the key to this game may have been the smallest player on the court.

Both teams showed their cards right off the bat. Rocky River opened the scoring on a long-range three from junior guard Joe Caruso, who had fonder memories of that win since his brother was a guard on that team. West answered right back with a post-up from 6-10 Richard Semrau.

Click here for an archive of West Life Sports Editor Zachary Dzurick's "Red Right 88" weekly columns.

It appeared the game would be Lutheran West's post play against Rocky River's perimeter shooting, and after one quarter the score was Lutheran West seven and Joe Caruso nine.

"They have two pretty good guards in Caruso and Frohnapple," Argento said."I respect Caruso as a player and we needed to do something to slow him down."

Enter Nick Epifano. The Longhorns switched their defense to a triangle and two and the 5-7 senior was given the task of shadowing Caruso.

Lutheran West senior Nick Epifano dribbles past Rocky River junior Joe Caruso.

"Nick worked his butt off," Semrau said."He did a fantastic job and really helped us out."

Did he ever. Caruso scored just two points in the game's last three quarters, and you can't blame Epifano for that basket. It was the final basket of the first half. Lutheran West had just rebounded the ball when Rocky River senior Zach Haudenschild ripped the ball away and found Caruso moving to the basket cutting West lead to 28-15 at the half. Otherwise, Caruso was kept off the scoreboard after his torrid first quarter.

"I just got up in his face and I tried to create some turnovers," Epifano said."He is the key point of their team. If we could stop him , we knew it would be easier to stop the rest of the team."

With the triangle-and-two defense limiting Caruso and senior teammate Kyle Frohnapple, it left Haudenschild open on the wings. He delivered back-to-back threes that cut the score to 29-28 with 5:19 remaining in the third quarter. He was wide open as well on the next possession, but senior Scott Rea chose to drive the crowded lane and traveled. On the ensuing possession, Semrau missed a layup but tracked down the ball on the perimeter and then drained a three.

West ended the quarter on a 15-1 run. Their the plan was pretty basic.

"Coach said just keep throwing the ball to me," Semrau said. "He said just run 41 and get the ball to Richard in low post."

The Pirates did make one last run to start the third quarter and cut the lead to nine twice, the last time at 49-40 with 7:17 left. Lutheran West would not score for almost five more minutes, but neither did the Pirates. The Longhorns went eight for eight from the line in the final minutes and pulled away for a 64-46 victory.

"This is the first time in a long time we have gone a full hard four quarters. It was good to see the guys responded to that," Argento said.

Semrau finished with 28 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Rocky River coach Tom Thompson said the Illinois recruit came as advertised.

"Semrau is a ball player, and we did not have an answer for him," Thompson said. "The good thing about their team is when Richard gets it going they don't have to rely on their perimeter game. I thought he worked really hard for those 28 points. He is a complete player and he deserves all the attention and notoriety he has gotten."

Thompson said the triangle and two was made even more effective because of Semrau.

"When there is a 6-10 kid standing in the middle of the lane and you are trying to drive the lane, it is tough to shoot over that," he said. "It is also tough to pass off of it because he is so long. That is why that defense is so effective. When we did go inside, we would hesitate to take it up and we had four or five travels underneath the glass. That doesn't show up in the statistics because that is what he creates with his presence."

The loss was Rocky River's third straight after a 14-1 start. The Pirates can clinch the WSC title outright on Friday with a win at Bay.

With the win, Lutheran West is now 18-0 and has won 44 straight regular season games. Argento said his team only worries about the next one. In this case a visit to Walsh Jesuit on Friday.

"We joke about the streak," he said. "It is a great thing for the fans and alumni, but for the players our next game is the big game. We have a goal every game. We want to just get better. We just beat the one number seed in a D-II sectional, our D-III sectional might be tougher than the D-II sectional. It is going to be tough and that is all we are focused on. Walsh is going to be ready for us Friday night. It will be a great atmosphere to play in."

The game was the final battle of Rocky River for at least the foreseeable future. Argento said he is sad to see the rivalry end.

"I will miss playing these guys," he said. "I am sad they have dropped us from their schedule. It is good competition and both sides have good fan support. If I had anything to do with it, we would still play them."

ALSO IN SPORTS:
Westlake girls take second at sectionals,
many local swimmers advance to districts
Sometimes second place feels like a championship. The Westlake girls swim team was ecstatic with their second place finish at the D-I girls sectional swim meet held at Lakewood High. The Lady Demons had 360 points, edging Magnificat’s 332 points. Strongsville won the meet with 445 points.