Schools
Beachwood Boys Basketball Team Knocks Off Gilmour Academy
Davis III goes for 27; Cohen gets first dunk
Beachwood head boys basketball coach Jason Pecjak loves his backcourt. If you’d ask him to switch sophomore John Davis III and senior Ellis Cohen for any other pair in the area, one feels he’d swat all offers deep into the stands, especially after their performance on Friday.
Davis led the Bison with 27 points and Cohen had 24 to lead it to an 87-79 victory at Gilmour Academy. Not to be outdone, junior guard David Linane sparked the Lancers with 26 points, while sophomores AJ Wright and Colin Zucker scored 10 points each.
“We have one of the better backcourts in the area,” Pecjak said. “And I’ll stand by that statement.”
Find out what's happening in Beachwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Bison (3-2) raced out to a 20-3 run to open the game, but the Lancers (2-4) rallied with a 13-2 run of their own to cut into the lead and finished the first quarter down, 22-16.
But the Bison took wing over the next two quarters for a 75-52 advantage after three quarters until the Lancers had a 27-point spurt in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
Find out what's happening in Beachwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Pecjak was concerned his team lost a little focus after getting up so big against the Lancers. The coach believes it’s a lack of experience on a young roster.
“At the varsity level, against a program like Gilmour, those kids are going to fight until the end of the game,” Pecjak said. “You got to be prepared to fight with them all the way to the end even though you’re up 20 points.”
Pecjak was also happy to see Cohen reach a career milestone – his first dunk.
“It was good,” Pecjak said. “We were happy for him.”
Beachwood hosts Chagrin Falls on Thursday after the junior varsity contest which begins at 6 p.m.
Beachwood 22 23 30 12 87
Gilmour Academy 16 13 23 27 79
Beachwood – Ellis Cohen 24, John Davis III 27, Alex Hohl 1, Jon Tramer 7, Anthony Valentine 8, Sterling Sanders 6, Julio Stevens 5, Jordan Richardson 4, Jared Moss 5.
Gilmour Academy – Charlie Sullivan 8, Randy Keller 2, Danny Urban 2, Kevin Gleason 4, Michael Vala 5, Colin Zucker 10, David Linane 26, Justyn Greene 9, Dante Wallette 3, AJ Wright 10.