Basketball Recap: East Tech Takes a Loss

East Tech was the 81-50 winner over Orange when they last played one another back in February of 2017, but their luck changed this time around. The East Tech Scarabs were just a bucket shy of victory on Monday and fell 54-53 to the Orange Lions.

East Tech lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Jaiden Copley, who went 8 of 15 en route to 18 points in addition to six boards and four steals. Copley is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last eight games he's played dating back to last season. Ja'Marion Carrington also deserves some recognition as he posted his first blocks of the season.

Leading Orange to victory were Alex Mcculloch and Dillon Mathur. Mcculloch went 8 for 16 on his way to 16 points, while Mathur went 5 of 9 en route to 15 points. The dominant performance gave Mathur a new career-high in points. Jean-Marie Morris-Barrie was another key player, putting up four points and nine rebounds.

East Tech's loss dropped their record down to 7-9. As for Orange, their win bumped their record up to 8-11.

East Tech and Orange could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps Ohio Rankings. East Tech will challenge Cleveland Central Catholic at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday down 476 places (599 vs. 123). Meanwhile, Orange (ranked 513th) will meet Hawken (ranked 135th) at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.