SULLIVAN TWP. — The Firelands boys basketball team clinched at least a share of its first Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division championship Friday.

The Falcons needed all their abilities, though, in a 49-37 win over scrappy Black River.

Firelands (13-8, 10-5), which received 12 points from Nick Bauer, can win the title outright by beating Brookside on Tuesday.

The Pirates (0-20, 0-15) were down by just eight points at the end of the third quarter, but the Falcons made 10-of-11 fourth-quarter free throws to seal it.

Freshman Allan Benson’s career-high 12 points led Black River, while senior Zach Sword added nine and a team-high five rebounds.

In another game:

Copley 45, Cloverleaf 39

Results

Suburban League

Copley 45, Cloverleaf 39

CLOVERLEAF                         11  11  6  11  —  39

COPLEY                                      7  9  13  16  —  45

Cloverleaf — Ryan O’Callaghan 2-0-6, Robby Buckwald 5-4-14, Jayson Sykora 0-1-1, Brandon Johnson 1-0-2, Cliff Collyer 5-1-11, Adam Podolak 0-0-0, Connor Ploucha 1-0-2, Brady Kotlarek 1-0-3. TOTALS: 15-6-39.

Copley — Brandon Chillous 2-2-6, Jayln Tyler 2-3-7, Todd Williams 2-2-6, Aregeros Turner 0-1-1, DaAire Andrew 2-1-5, Larry Spear 3-0-8, Troy Brown 1-1-3, Conner Huth 2-3-7, Joe Smith 1-0-2. TOTALS: 15-13-45.

3-point goals — O’Callaghan 2, Kotlarek, Spear 2. Rebounds — Cloverleaf 19 (Buckwald 6), Copley 20 (Williams 4). Records — Cloverleaf (5-16, 2-11), Copley (10-10, 7-6).

Patriot Athletic Conference

Firelands 49, Black River 37

FIRELANDS                             8  14  12  15  —  49

BLACK RIVER                           8  10  8  11  —  37

Firelands — Casey Smith 1-4-6, Logan Sittinger 1-2-4, Joe Hyster 4-1-9, Cole Sklarek 1-2-4, Nick Bauer 4-2-12, James Willbond 3-0-8, Brett Helton 1-4-6. TOTALS: 15-15-49.

Black River — Anton Hsia 0-0-0, Tyler Potter 2-0-4, Caleb Stiver 0-0-0, Allan Benson 5-2-12, Zach Sword 3-3-9, Stephen Zumack 2-0-5, Brett Nagy 2-1-5, Jerod England 1-0-2. TOTALS: 15-6-37.

3-point goals — Bauer 2, Willbond 2, Zumack. Rebounds — Black River 16 (Sword 5). Assists — Black River 8 (Zumack 3). Records — Firelands (13-8, 10-5), Black River (0-20, 0-15).