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Jonas Nichols, Will Scott lead Hoban into Division I boys basketball regional final
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- Jonas Nichols, Will Scott lead Hoban into Division I boys basketball regional final
The consistent early morning workouts inside Barry Gymnasium and Alumni Gymnasium are paying off for Archbishop Hoban teammates Jonas Nichols and Will Scott.
"I have opened up the gym for Jonas at 6 a.m. more than any player I have ever coached," Hoban coach T.K. Griffith said Wednesday night after a 60-54 win in overtime over Green in a Division I regional semifinal at Copley High School.
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"Sometimes both of them are in there, and sometimes it is just Jonas. Jonas was in there getting shots up Monday morning at 6 a.m. before school."
The extra practice helped Nichols score 23 points and Scott score 17 points in Hoban's come-from-behind win over Green. Hoban (20-7) is set to meet Lakewood St. Edward (20-5) in a regional final at 1 p.m. Saturday at Copley High School.
"They love the game, they work at it and they care," Griffith said. "They are light-hearted and they keep things fun. There is a looseness about them that is paying off right now."
Nichols and Scott combined for 40 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and five assists in the victory.
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Hoban outscored Green 35-16 in the final 17 minutes and 50 seconds Wednesday with Nichols scoring 15 points during the surge and Scott contributing 10 points. The duo was also disruptive on defense as the Knights erased the Bulldogs' 38-25 lead with 5:50 to go in the third quarter.
"Every timeout and every break we had, coach T.K. told us to 'stay together, play as a team and never give up,'" said Scott, a junior guard. "When we applied pressure and after turnover after turnover after turnover we came back. At halftime, coach said 'enough of the 3-point shooting. We need to get downhill.'
"It worked. We started screening and rolling and we got hot and got downhill."
Nichols, a sophomore guard, made two layups in the third quarter and one layup apiece in the fourth quarter and overtime. Scott dropped in three layups and junior guard Jayvian Crable added one layup in the final 20 minutes.
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Hoban made six 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes, including two apiece from Nichols and junior guard Logan Vowles and one apiece from Scott and junior forward Andrew Griffith.
"Jonas is a knucklehead, but at the end of the day he is a great basketball player," Scott said with a smile. "He develops every day. He works out in the morning. He is always the first one to work out. He is waking me up at 6 so we can work out in the morning."
Nichols and Scott met as children and are close friends. They went to preschool and attended primary school together for a couple of years in Copley before going their separate ways. For middle school, Nichols went to Redeemer Christian School in Cuyhoga Falls and Scott remained in the Copley-Fairlawn district.
Nichols is in his second year at Hoban and Scott is in his first year at Hoban after attending Gahanna Lincoln as a freshman and sophomore. They both live in Akron now.
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Scott scored a career-high 28 points in Hoban's fourth game of the season, a 55-50 loss to host Gates Mills Gilmour Academy on Dec. 17.
Nichols, who is 6-foot-3 and 204 pounds, turned 16-years-old on Sept. 11. He started playing competitve basketball as a fifth grade student at Redeemer Christian School.
"I played football growing up," Nichols said. "I was a bigger guy, but once I slimmed down I got more into basketball. ... I used to play left tackle in football."
Nichols said he was 6-0 and 210 when he was 13, and credited his mother, Brandi Nichols, for "getting me on a good diet."
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"I try to drink a lot of water and run constantly," Nichols added.
Nichols is focused on academics and basketball, and does not play football at Hoban.
"I want to keep playing for coach T.K. and with my teammates, especially my seniors," said Nichols, who scored a season-high 25 points in a 63-46 win over host North Canton Hoover in a sectional final on Feb. 26.
"I don't want my seniors to go home. I want my seniors to go out with a bang. I am playing my hardest, getting everyone involved and we are coming away with wins."
Nichols made the shot of the night Wednesday at Copley when he hit a step-back 3-pointer from the right wing with Green sophomore Brady Rollyson's hand in his face to tie the score 49-49 with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
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"That came with a lot of reps," Nichols said. "I practice that shot over and over again. I actually got it from Damian Lillard. … It just so happened to go in. I'm thankful for that."
Nichols is like most teenagers in that he loves to watch skilled shot-makers such as Lillard, LeBron James, Stephen Curry Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but his current favorite player is the leading scorer for the Chicago Bulls.
"My favorite person in the basketball world is DeMar DeRozan," Nichols said. "I think he is the best player in the world."
St. Edward up next for Hoban
Senior Michael Bova scored 28 points Thursday to lead St. Edward to a 69-60 win over Mentor (20-7) in a regional semifinal at Copley.
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Bova, a 6-1 guard, surpassed 1,000 career points in the game as the Eagles rallied from a 16-point deficit (21-5) in the second quarter to top the Cardinals.
St. Edward's starters are Bova, 6-0 senior Myles Reynolds, 6-2 senior Jair Knight, 6-1 senior Zyion Freer-Brown and 6-7 junior Cameron Grant.
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jonas Nichols, Will Scott lead Hoban into basketball regional final
