MANSFIELD, Ohio — Richland County’s most storied boys basketball program will have a new banner to add to the already overcrowded walls of the Franciscan Activity Center.
For the first time in school history, St. Peter’s is a conference champ.
The Spartans raced out to a 20-7 first-quarter lead and wrestled the Mid-Buckeye Conference title away from crosstown rival Mansfield Christian (MCS) with a rough-and-tumble 60-51 victory Friday.
“It feels great,” senior Michael Berick said during the postgame net-cutting celebration. “I’m just really happy to be here. All the hard work has finally paid off.”
Berick scored six of his 11 points during the decisive first quarter. His mid-range baseline jumper gave St. Peter’s (14-7, 8-0) an 8-0 lead less than two minutes into the game and first Mansfield Christian coach John Kurtz to call a quick timeout.
“It was very important to get off to a great start,” Berick said. “They are a very good team. They’re well coached. They play hard and they play smart.”
The Spartans connected on 8 of 16 field goals in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Mansfield Christian (13-7, 6-2) was just 2 of 9 from the floor.
“We didn’t start out very well and we just struggled to get out of that hole the rest of the game,” MCS coach John Kurtz said. “That poor start made it rough for us.
“We didn’t execute very well early and we missed some shots that typically would go down.”
The Flames outscored the Spartans 14-10 in the second quarter and trailed 30-21 at the break.
“A couple of times we got it to within six points,” Kurtz said. “We climbed back in, but we expended a lot of energy getting it back to six.”
Slugfest: The second half quickly turned into a free throw shooting contest. St. Peter’s attempted 24 free throws in the fourth quarter, connecting on 17.
“There were a lot of fouls called and the flow of the game changed a little bit,” St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick said. “We made enough (free throws) to be effective.”
Freshman Mason Campbell topped St. Peter’s with 15 points. Senior Adam Blunk had 14, including seven from the stripe in the fourth. Berick added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Brandon Mount paced MCS with 13 points. Ryan Smith added 10 points and six boards off the bench.
History: St. Peter’s has made eight Final Four appearances, won two state championships (1968, 1978) and twice was runner-up (1977, 1979).
“St. Peter’s has done a lot of things, but they have never won a conference title,” Jakubick said. “I told the seniors, ‘You can win a championship and nobody can ever say they’ve done that before.”
It also was the first conference title for Jakubick. He was the girls coach at Akron St. Vincent-St Mary, an independent school.
“(Playing in a conference) makes the games more meaningful,” Jakubick said. “The kids really loved it.”
Back to Work: The Spartans conclude the regular season tonight at Northern Ohio League champion Ontario, weather permitting.
“I told the kids to enjoy the win tonight,” Jakubick said. “When we wake up tomorrow we’ll do our best to focus on Ontario.”
“I’m just really happy to be here. All the hard work has finally paid off,” said Spartans Senior Michael Berick.
