TWINSBURG— When Hoban makes a run, look out.
We're not talking about turning a close game into a double-digit halftime lead here. That was the appetizer for the Knights in Thursday's Division I district semifinal against GlenOak .
The main course came in the third quarter. The Knights just consumed everything on their plate.
Hoban outscored GlenOak 32-11 in the third quarter and rolled to a 81-46 win at Twinsburg High School. The fourth-seeded Knights (21-3) will face No. 3 Nordonia on Saturday at 2 p.m. for a trip to the regional.
"Everyone was hot," Hoban junior guard Jonas Nichols said. "We wanted to play for each other. We wanted to see everyone win."
Sudden offensive explosions from Hoban in the tournament are not rare. Eleven first-half 3-pointers and 30 second-quarter points helped the Knights eliminate Massillon last week.
Senior guard William Scott had the hot hand that night. He scored 14 of his career-high 30 points in the first quarter.
Scott had 15 points against GlenOak. As for Nichols, he was unstoppable. He hit three 3s on his way to a game-high 27 points, three short of a career best. He also grabbed six rebounds.
"I've felt it since yesterday," Nichols said. "I was in the gym and was hitting every shot. I tried to translate it to the game.
"I was in the gym until 12 o'clock last night. I got up this morning and was in the gym at 6 before school. I was trying to perfect my craft. It showed."
Thursday's game couldn't have been more different than GlenOak's 60-59 win over Hoban in December. Ja'Corey Lipkins' putback in the final seconds won it for the Golden Eagles. The rematch ended with a running clock.
"They didn't miss a shot," GlenOak head coach Rick Hairston said. "We struggled a little bit. We couldn't score, couldn't make free throws and could not get them stopped. They made 13 3s. It's tough to compete with a team that's doing that when you're not making shots.
"You have to give them a lot of credit. That's a good, good high school basketball team. They are going to be tough to put out of the tournament."
Logan Vowles added 15 points on five 3s for Hoban.
Lipkins scored 16 points and Jaylen McElroy finished with 11 for GlenOak, which finishes at 18-7. They helped lead the Golden Eagles to an eight-win improvement this season.
The good news for Hairston is Lipkins, McElroy and most of the rest of the team will be back.
"We had a great season," Hairston said. "I thought when we got here we were still playing with house money because no one expected us to be here. No one expected us to win 18 games. Folks in our league expected that we would be the last-place team again. We made some strides.
"I really think the program is heading in a good direction."
Reach Mike at milke.popovich@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @mpopovichREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Jonas Nichols leads Hoban boys basketball past GlenOak
