In a game of runs, Olmsted Falls saved its best for last. Trailing by six late in the third quarter, the ninth-seeded Bulldogs rattled off 23 straight points to pull away for a 79-63 win over No. 17 Mayfield in a Division II district semifinal March 2. Olmsted Falls (16-7) led by as many as 14 in th e first half before Mayfield (14-9) stormed back to take a 54-48 lead with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter. Not only did the Bulldogs score the game’s next 23 points. They also held the Wildcats scoreless for the next 8:07 to seal the win. “Our guys do a great job of not panicking and staying consistent with what we do,” Olmsted Falls coach Chris DeLisio said. “We’ve been in a handful of games like that this year. I think that’s where our schedule helps us. Our guys are no strangers to looking up at the scoreboard and it being a close game.” Falls forced 13 turnovers in the first quarter and jumped out to a 15-4 advantage. Mason Cerovac poured in 20 of his game-high 30 points in the first half to lead the charge. However, the game changed once Mayfield’s turnovers came to a halt. PHOTOS: Olmsted Falls vs. Mayfield boys basketball, March 2, 2026 The Wildcats had zero turnovers in the second quarter and got back in it quickly with a 12-2 run of their own. Five different players scored in the frame to cut the deficit to 34-31 at halftime. “We kept turning the ball over and put ourselves in a pretty big hole,” Mayfield coach David Krasnow said. “We had a great second quarter and cut it to three. We were right there, and it just got away from us in the fourth quarter.” Mayfield kept the momentum in its favor with five straight points out of the locker room for its first lead. Senior Izzy Austin scored nine of his team-high 17 points in the third quarter. Both teams traded baskets over the next few minutes before Manny Rogers and Trey Brown knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Mayfield in front, 54-48. Instead of letting the game get away, Olmsted Falls stayed composed. “We knew coming in Mayfield is talented,” Cerovac said. “They can score and they make a lot of runs. We stopped doing what we do, and they came back and took the lead. I think we did a good job of not getting too down on ourselves and staying even-keeled.” Fittingly, Cerovac got the run started with a basket. Logan Connelly made it a one-point game with an and-one, and Chris Tenn scored four straight points to close out the quarter and give the Bulldogs a lead they never gave up. Up to this point, Mayfield was the beneficiary of a fast-paced game that resulted in easy transition buckets. The Bulldogs turned the tide by playing zone defense and controlling the boards to get good looks of their own. They won the rebounding battle convincingly, 35-11. “I’m proud of the way we bounced back,” Krasnow said. “We were in the game, but we just made some silly passes. We just made a bunch of turnovers down the stretch there and a competitive game that could’ve gone either way was all of a sudden game over.” After battling foul trouble, Tenn ended strong with 10 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 18 points. Connelly also stepped up with 16 points and made more 3-pointers in this game (three) than he had all season coming in (two). The Bulldogs return to a district final for the second straight season. They will face the winner of No. 5 Austintown-Fitch and No. 6 Hudson at 3:30 p.m. March 7 at Twinsburg. Their recipe is no secret. “I feel like it’s all about our team,” Connelly said. “We’ve been going through it this whole year. As a team, we’ve been really close together. It’s a great group of guys.” The score Olmsted Falls 76, Mayfield 63 ...read more read less