TORONTO — The Toronto boys’ basketball team seemed to be in control early against state ranked Heartland Christian, however, the Lions turned up the heat and they were able to turn the tide against the Red Knights.

Heartland Christian turned a nine-point deficit into a five-point advantage, however, the Red Knights responded in a big way in the second half as Toronto built an eight-point advantage in the fourth quarter before holding on for a 63-59 victory against the No. 6 ranked Lions Tuesday night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.

It was a big win for the Red Knights against a quality opponent.

“Absolutely,” Toronto (10-3) head coach Sean Tucker said. “We talked to our guys about how good of a team this is. They were ranked No. 2 in the state. They were ranked No. 6 in the state coming into tonight, and they showed why they were ranked No. 6 in the state. They are extremely well coached. They are extremely disciplined especially on offense. They run a very good defensive scheme.

“We had two really good practices coming into tonight. All of our guys prepared us for this game. Ultimately, it was a program win. It was not a team win, but it was a program win. A lot of guys who may not have stepped on the court really helped us prepare for this game.”

Trailing by nine in the first quarter, the boys from Columbiana County ripped of an 18-4 run to go up by five in the second. The Lions turned up the pressure causing the Red Knights to commit some costly turnovers.

“Absolutely,” Tucker said about Heartland Christian’s defensive pressure giving his team some problems. “They outscored us 21-15 in the second. We were kind of not ourselves. It can be hard to figure out. Sometimes, you don’t know if a kid is sick or not because they are not playing their usually way.

“We came into this game well prepared. We knew what they were going to do. Sometimes, you get away from what you prepared to do. You cannot mimic their style of defense as much as you try to do. You just aren’t able to do it. Then, you see it live.

“It was a very physical game. It was a great high school basketball game to watch and it was a great high school basketball game to coach. It’s a shame that someone had to win and someone had to lose. It was a great game.”

The Red Knights battled back and knotted the score at 29 with 2:09 left in the first half before the visitors regained the lead on a foul shot 20 seconds later on their way to taking a 34-33 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The hosts scored the first three points of the third to take a two-point lead, however, the Lions (10-3) countered with a pair of three-point plays to go back up by two.

The Knights with a 6-0 run to end the quarter enabling them to take a 46-42 lead into the fourth.

The victors scored first in the fourth to go up by six before Heartland Christian cut its deficit down to two, however, the Red Knights regrouped and extended their advantage to 54-46 to cap a 14-4 spurt with 4:10 left to play.

“We talked a lot in the third quarter,” Tucker said. “We outscored them, 13-8, in the third. We kind of got the momentum back on our side. It was even at 17 in the fourth. We hit some big free throws, and we were able to take care of the basketball. We are very good on offense when we are patient and when we are strong with the basketball.

“I think some of our guys got fatigued. We played mainly with six guys. Our seventh guy saw some minutes.

“They are a disciplined team. They had a very good run. We were up five, and then they hit that 3. We had a good timeout, we were able to get the ball inbounds, we got to the free-throw line, and we hit two extremely important free throws. We played well in the second half.”

The Red Knights led 59-52 with less than 50 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock. The Lions, however, refused to go away quietly as they battled back and pulled to within 61-59 on a 3-point, but a pair of foul shots at the other end sealed the deal for the Red Knights.

“We were 15-of-16 from the line,” Tucker said. “Brody Winters went 5-for-5. He hit a couple at the most important time. Colt Joynson was 5-for-6, and some of the free throws he made were extremely important at the end of the game. Landon Grimes was 2-for-2, Brady Fair was 2-for-2 and Austin Buchanan was 1-for-2 at the line.

“In the fourth quarter, we shot the ball extremely well from the free-throw line. We were 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth. The say games are won or lost at the free-throw line.

“We were not making shots from the outside, so we wanted to get away from the outside. We wanted to get rebounds and get inside. We wanted to play downhill. We wanted to play to our strength, and we were able to do that.”

Joynson netted a game-high 27 points to lead the way offensively for Toronto, while Brody Winters delivered 15 and Fair finished with seven.

Collin Kalaher collected a team-high 17 points to lead the way for the Lions, Brody Conaway contributed 15 and Isaiah Matthews tallied 12.

A 3-pointer from the corner gave Toronto a 10-2 lead with five minutes left in the first. The boys in white later extended their advantage to 18-9 before the boys in black collected the final four points of the quarter making the score 18-13 at the end of the quarter.

“The guys who prepared us worked really hard at our last two practices,” Tucker said. “I believe you play the way you practice. We were able to get off to a fast start because of the way we practiced. The guys who prepared us did a great job.”

Trailing by five entering the second, Heartland Christian continued its run as the Lions ultimately took a 27-22 lead in the quarter before the Red Knights responded in a big way.

The two teams are currently trending in opposite directions as Toronto has won four straight games while Heartland Christian has lost three straight with the first two defeats coming against Lake Center Christian and Buckeye Trail.

“I told our guys we are not looking forward,” Tucker said. “We are taking things one game at a time and one opponent at a time.

“Our kids break down film on their own. They do their own scouting reports. We started doing that last year. I think it has helped them develop a better basketball IQ. They get to know their opponent. The coaches don’t have to tell them anything. The guys see it for themselves, and they write it down. They coach each other. They tell things to each other. The coaches don’t have tell them everything. It makes them good.”

Toronto is scheduled to play Shenandoah Friday night on the road. The Red Knights enjoyed the win against the Lions Tuesday night, but now they are focused on the Zeps.

“Absolutely,” Tucker said. “Tonight, these boys made the school proud, and they made the town proud.”

Heartland Christian is scheduled to play Friday night at Youngstown East.

“Continued prayers for Coach Dunlevy,” Tucker said.

Toronto 63, Heartland Christian 59

Heartland Christian 13 21 8 17 – 59

Toronto 18 15 13 17 – 63

HEARTLAND CHRISTIAN (10-3): Matthews 5 0-0 12, Seutia 1 1-2 3, R. Kalaher 2 1-1 6, C. Kalaher 6 4-6 17, Stambaugh 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-2 0, Morgan 2 0-0 4, Reed 1 0-0 2, Conaway 5 5-6 15. TOTALS: 22 11-17 59.

TORONTO (10-3): Grimes 1 2-2 5, Joynson 11 5-6 27, Winters 5 5-5 15, Buchanan 2 1-2 5, Fair 2 2-2 7, Henry 2 0-0 4, Rebich 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 15-17 63.

3-POINTERS: Heartland Christian 4 (Matthews 2, R. Kalaher, C. Kalaher); Toronto 2 (Grimes, Fair)