Open Door raised their record to 6-2 with an impressive 53-49 win at Oberlin. Head coach Jason Penley is in his third year at Open Door and he has three juniors in Abe Valentine, Nick Terry and Eric Mann who have started since freshman. When a reporter asked Penley if the win over Oberlin was a signature win, Penley politely disagreed.
"We are not looking for signature wins," Penley said. "We are breaking it down into four game stretches and taking one game at a time. I respect Coach Russell. He has a great program here and I know they are always going to be ready. But a signature win? Our guys believed they could win tonight. If you want to call it a signature win thats fine but our guys came in expecting to win and they would have been disappointed in anything less."
Count Oberlin coach Kurt Russell as a believer.
"The Valentine kid and Terry kid are tough players," Russell said. "I was telling the coach before the game that they are one of the better teams in the area even though they are a Christian school, we have this stereotype that they are not talented. But clearly they are more talented than us and it showed tonight."
The Patriots travel next to Brookside on Friday. The Cardinals had a "signature" win of their own tonight win a 55-51 win over Keystone. The Cardinals led by eight to start the fourth quarter and then found themselves trailing by one late in the game. It is the type of game that in the past, Brookside would have lost. But the Cardinals regained their composure and won 55-51.
"We have been working towards being competitive," Brookside coach Brent Schremp said. "We also have been learning how to close out games by doing the little things. This is a great win for our program. This was a total team effort. I am so proud of them."
The J.V. game tips off at 6 p.m. at Brookside with the varsity to follow.