Staff photo / Preston Byers Howland’s Anthony Chieffo attempts to finish at the rim between Michael Swallow (14) and Julian Patti (2) during the Tigers’ district semifinal win Thursday.

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Up 12 points entering the fourth quarter, Howland appeared to be cruising to the Division II, Northeast 4 district final, but after a nightmare final period, Howland could feel only relief for its 47-44 win over Rocky River on Thursday in North Ridgeville.

Within the first minute of the fourth, the Pirates cut into Howland’s advantage and got the deficit down to seven. Four different Tigers then turned the ball over on successive possessions, allowing Rocky River to pull within five.

“In the fourth quarter, they scored a lot because we threw the ball away when we had it, and then when they missed, they kept getting second chance and second chance, and when that happens, you’re gonna score eventually,” Howland head coach Dan Bubon said.

After Rocky River cut Howland’s lead to just one, Anthony Chieffo converted a fast-break layup with 80 seconds remaining to get the Tigers’ lead back to three.

Howland had multiple opportunities to create some distance and likely ice the game from the free-throw line, but the Tigers proved to be almost completely ineffective at the stripe.

Howland made just three of its 10 free throws in the fourth quarter, with the Tigers missing a pair in the final 25 seconds to keep Rocky River one three-pointer away from forcing overtime.

Fortunately for the Tigers, Rocky River missed three game-tying triples in the final minute, ensuring Howland at least one more game in North Ridgeville.

After the win, Bubon said his players may have been too aware of the importance of the free throws in the fourth quarter.

“I think we were thinking about the moment and thinking about what the shots meant instead of just going through a routine and shooting the ball like normal,” Bubon said. “But yeah, it’s frustrating when you’re sitting there going, ‘Okay, all we got to do is make one here and we’re good,’ and we keep missing. That’s a lot of stress.”

John Perry, who scored a game-high 19 points, said fatigue may have had a hand in the poor shooting night at the line.

“I feel like we were really tired for some reason. I don’t really know what was going on,” Perry said.

Rocky River head coach Michael Murray said he knew the Pirates were in for a defensive battle with Howland.

“They’re very solid defensively. I talked to the coach last night — we were both scouting and he’s a great guy, does a great job. And we were just talking and we even said, the first one with 40 or 50 is gonna win,” Murray said.

Howland will meet the No. 1 seed Rocky River Lutheran West in North Ridgeville at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Bubon said his team will have to play “great” to beat Lutheran West but that no one should count out the Tigers.

“There’s gonna be a lot of people that give us no chance in the game — and I understand that, they’re a very good team, but I promise you our chance is not zero,” Bubon said. “We’ve played a tough schedule throughout the year, we’ve hung with everybody we’ve played. They were the No. 1 seed in this whole 62-team draw. Ursuline was a No. 2 seed. Both of them are very good, but just two weeks ago from tonight, we were coming down with five seconds to go to make a shot to beat Ursuline.

“We just have to lock in and play a great game. We’re gonna have to play great, but we’re capable. We’re very capable. In a one-game scenario, these guys are defensively good enough to beat anybody.”

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