Luke Rowe’s breakout has arrived. The North Ridgeville junior scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Rangers to a 70-52 win over Lorain on Nov. 26 at Midview’s DiFranco Classic. Rowe scored 11 points in the second quarter alone and splashed five 3-pointers on the afternoon. He was locked in. “After that first shot, the adrenaline just came in like crazy,” Rowe said. “I was just looking forward to keep shooting more and I knew I was going to make them. It was amazing. I was so excited for that first game. It was just awesome.” While Ridgeville (1-0) just got most of its players back last week from football, Rowe has been working in the gym. He was the Rangers’ second-leading scorer last season and has blossomed into the go-to option this team needs. Coach Ben Chase has constantly praised Rowe’s work ethic and it showed immediately in the season opener. “Luke can fill it up,” Chase said. “The dude can just flat out shoot. When he takes the right shots and they give him space, I tell him he has to shoot the ball when he’s open. He’s a special player and he deserves it because he works his butt off.” Rowe’s performance was just one of many positives for North Ridgeville. Spearheaded by Rowe, the Rangers made 11 3-pointers and shared the ball at a high level. Sophomore Mason Allison and freshman Hayden Stephanchik both shined in their varsity debuts with 13 and 10 points respectively. Seniors Duke Baker and Cole Miller both scored eight points each and Colton Mack chipped in with seven. It was a total team effort. Ridgeville jumped out to a 10-4 lead after one quarter and kept the energy up. Behind Rowe’s strong second quarter and stout defense, the Rangers extended their lead to 31-14 at halftime. “I think they surprised everybody a little bit with how they guarded in the first half,” Chase said. “Unbelievable effort. We have kids that are going to compete their butts off. I think you saw that today. I’m really proud of how our team in all phases looked in game one with six practices. Pretty awesome stuff.” The season opener can present challenges and Lorain (0-1) found out first hand. The Titans dug themselves an early hole and couldn’t recover. Their two leading scorers for the game Kane Taliano and Jaylen Jackson scored 22 of their combined 24 points in the second half when it was too late. “I think we’re fine,” Lorain coach Matt Kielian said. “We had to get this first one under our belts. They play hard, we just weren’t on the same page a lot of the time and that’s on me. We’re a young and inexperienced team and we’re only going to get better. It’s tough, nobody wants to lose, but at the same time it’s a lesson for us.” The Rangers matched the Titans’ uptick in offense and led by as much as 26 in the fourth quarter. Five different North Ridgeville players scored in the final frame to close the door. “We really space things out because we have great ball handlers,” Rowe said. “The person with the ball can always go by the defender. When we have spacing like that, it’s really easy to space the floor and get open shots.” North Ridgeville has one more this game this week on Nov. 30 as it takes on Gilmour in the Cleveland Basketball Classic at Baldwin Wallace. Lorain makes its Greater Cleveland Conference debut at Mentor on Dec. 5.
https://www.morningjournal.com/2025/11/26/lorain-vs-north-ridgeville-boys-basketball-luke-rowe-helps-rangers-roll/