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For 3 quarters, it appeared West Carrollton was on par to punch their ticket to the District Finals in Division III against Bellbrook. In the final 2 minutes of the 3rd quarter, Bellbrook went on a run to cut a 10-point deficit into a 4-point deficit at the quarter break. The run continued into the final quarter as Bellbrook came from behind to defeat West Carrollton 67-59 and advance to the District Finals on March 1st.
It was a tough start for the Golden Eagles as they had to match up against West Carrollton’s brotherly duo of Chylan and Joseph Ingram, who both stand 6-foot-7. West Carrollton would grab an early lead while getting points in the paint from both Ingrams, as well as perimeter shooting from Ka’maree Davis. Bellbrook threw a zone to try and contain their size while also using their guard-heavy offense to fire 3’s on the other end. The Pirates led for much of the 1st half and took Bellbrook’s standout scorer, Austin Webb, out of the game. Webb wouldn’t get his first points until the 6:17 mark in the 2nd quarter. Finally, shots started to fall and Bellbrook would tie it up at the 3:28 mark. West Carrollton would return with a run of their own and take a 39-34 lead into the locker room. The 3rd quarter was massive for the Pirates, as they were getting whatever shots they wanted in the paint and were taking full advantage of Bellbrook going cold from the floor once again and he lead got up to 10 points. However, a CJ Scohy layup and Webb 3PT shot at the end of the quarter cut the deficit to 50-46. The momentum continued to lean in Bellbrook’s favor as Scohy free throws got Bellbrook within 1-point. A David Gregory floater gave Bellbrook their 1st lead at 53-52. Jacob Blankenship and Gregory would make 3’s to extend the lead 63-56 and free throws down the stretch solidified Bellbrook’s comeback. The win advanced Bellbrook to the District Finals on March 1st, where they will face a 23-1 Aiken Falcons team that needed a 2nd half comeback to beat Hamilton Ross Tuesday night.
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The Greater Western Ohio Conference (GWOC) had a successful day Monday night as Miamisburg and Northmont both advanced to District Finals in Division II.
Miamisburg, led by 6-foot-8 Andrew Hoerner, put away the top-seeded Sidney Yellow Jackets, 56-37 in the opener. While Northmont separated themselves in the 2nd half of a 78-37 victory over Fairborn. The Vikings used a 10-2 run in the 2nd quarter and a 17-7 4th quarter to run away with the victory over a guard-heavy Sidney team. Miamisburg looked to feed Hoerner early, allowing him to get some midrange looks and shots off the glass. He and Chrys Ngoh combined for 34 points offensively for Miamisburg. It was the 2nd win in 4 days for the Vikings, as they looked more impressive for an entire 32 minutes which was a far cry from last Friday when the Vikings nearly blew a 12-point lead against Troy in their tournament opener. The win punched their ticket to the District Final, where they will face the winner of Winton Woods and Harrison next Friday, February 28th. Northmont continued the GWOC dominance against a depleted Fairborn team, who were down several players. The Bolts used their athleticism and quickness to pressure the ball for a full 94 feet, creating multiple opportunities in transition and off of turnovers. It did however take a little bit of time for Northmont to settle in, as they missed multiple layups and free throws in the 1st quarter. After leading by 7 to start, the Bolts ballooned the lead to 21 points at the half thanks to BJ Hatcher’s defense and play from Victor Drummond and Cameron Tyree. By the 3rd quarter, Northmont got the game into a running clock situation and began pulling players mid quarter. The extra rest was much needed as Northmont goes to their first District Title since 2017, where they will face the winner of Kings and Loveland on Saturday as Mason High School. Piqua High School always has a nice crowd, even for early tournament basketball. A host for the smaller divisions in the area, Piqua sees many of the small, rural towns north of Dayton come together for their opening action. Game #4 of the day featured two small schools from contrasting cities. Jackson Center made the “shorter” trip to Piqua from just North in Shelby County while Springfield Catholic Central came across I-70 from Springfield.
Jackson Center left no doubt settling in with the shorter trip. An 8-0 start to the game forced Catholic Central to regroup early. Turnovers and 2nd chance opportunities were killing the Irish as they couldn’t get a good look on the offensive end, but were allowing Jackson Center to add to the lead by not finishing possessions. The Irish wouldn’t get their first points of the game until the 3:11 mark on a free throw. While their first field goal would come along a few minutes later, the Irish certainly had dug themselves a hole early on, trailing 16-3 after the first break. As the 1st quarter ended, Jackson Center began to struggle a bit with their ball security. While the Tigers were winning the 50/50 battles, they were getting a little sloppy with the ball and not executing when it mattered. Defensively the Tigers remained solid. As the 2nd quarter got under way, Zac Thompson (Catholic Central), began to get something working offensively with 2 straight buckets in the paint. The 6-foot-7 senior Center was the tallest on the floor and taking advantage of the looks he could get at the rim. Owen Young would contribute with a transition layup himself in the quarter. The Irish were trying to get their offense at the rim, especially after Reed Platfoot picked up his 2nd foul in the middle of the quarter. Jackson Center kept him in the game and for good reason. Platfoot could defend, but Preston Serr and Carter Klopfenstein were making shots on the perimeter for the Tigers, allowing them to keep building their lead. Jackson Center would add to the lead and go into the half up 36-18. Fans of Catholic Central would notice Keegan Guenther, the OHC South Division Player of the Year, was not getting the ball in his hands. When he did have the ball, he did not have a shot chance. The 2nd half strategy for Catholic Central was immediately to get him involved. Two-man games, ball screens and rescreens were the keys as the Irish tried to get him the ball but Lucas Heitkamp did an excellent job defending. The Irish again struggled to get the ball in the basket with their first points of the half coming midway through the quarter. The positive news? Jackson Center was also struggling to score. Adding to the madness, Catholic Central shifted to a 2-3 zone, which held the Tigers to just 2 points once the shift happened. The Irish would benefit as the deficit at the quarter break was 42-29 in favor of Jackson Center. The offensive struggles continued as both teams saw the ball not going through the hoop. Catholic Central would cut the deficit to 11 points, but Jackson Center would again find rhythm on offense. The shots started falling again, and as quickly as the Irish thought they could grab a lead, the Tigers squashed it. After the dust settled, Jackson Center would walk away with a convincing 59-38 victory to advance and face Mississinawa Valley in the District Semifinals. The beauty of tournament basketball is the uncertainty, unknown and unthinkable that can occur at any time. When it comes to early round tournament basketball, throw in unpredictable.
Saturday’s action at Xenia High School brought just that. Oakwood, the #2 seed in the Dayton portion of Division IV’s Southwest District, would be facing off with #10 seeded Kenton Ridge. The matchup was a back and forth campaign that truly came down to the final seconds. Oakwood separated themselves in the 1st quarter with a late 11-2 run to take an 18-13 lead at the first quarter break. Oakwood was depending on their perimeter shooting led by Luke Rubin and Owen Hoersting. Kenton Ridge on the flip side, was letting the Lumberjacks get 2nd chance opportunities while also missing shot after shot from the floor. The Cougars adjusted and put their foot on the gas to get in the paint and get to the rim. Xavier White specifically took it as a personal challenge and continued to get to the FT line over and over again. After a while, Oakwood’s defense adjusted to take White away from catching the ball. Trey Johnson stepped up in the quarter, providing some more scoring with the reduced attention on himself and others. Kenton Ridge took advantage of Oakwood cooling off and combined with a 7-1 run midway through the quarter, took their first lead 29-28. Oakwood would counter and go back-and-forth with Kenton Ridge for the remainder of the half, forcing a 34-34 tie at the break. Coming out of the half, Oakwood grabbed the momentum back with two quick buckets to extend the lead to 4. After spotting the lead, Kenton Ridge countered with a run of their own and would take as high as a 4-point lead themselves. As basketball games go, runs are bound to happen. Oakwood would again get back to scoring the ball, going on a 8-0 run near the end of the quarter to regain the lead. While the Lumberjacks were getting to the free throw line, they were leaving lots of points on the floor with numerous misses. Kenton Ridge would receive a major blow with under 1:00 in the 3rd quarter. White picked up his 4th foul of the game, forcing him to go to the bench to end the half. Fortunately for the Cougars, Oakwood only took a 2-point lead into the break as the Lumberjacks led 52-50. With White on the bench for Kenton Ridge, Oakwood knew they had a short window to try and balloon the lead and one of two things could happen. Oakwood would get scoring going quickly and create a gap that couldn’t be surmounted or the Lumberjacks would not be able to pull away and we would get an unpredictable ending. The former looked most likely as Oakwood quickly got the lead up to 6 points but their free throw woes continued. The loss of White in the quarter forced Will Rastatter and Mason Amato to fill in the scoring columns. Their play during the window without White is the main reason why Oakwood was not able to get the game out of hand. White returned and Kenton Ridge started to chip away at the deficit with Johnson finishing a layup at the 1:50 mark to get the deficit down to 63-62. With 36 seconds left, Brennan Shaffer made a layup to tie the game at 64 apiece. As it came down to the wire, Oakwood would end up with the ball under the Cougar basket with just 6 seconds left to play. Out of a timeout, the Lumberjacks drew up a play that saw Hoersting come off a screen and get a wide open look at the rim, giving Oakwood a 66-64 lead that would ultimately be the game winner. Kenton Ridge would get the ball inbounded and White would get a shot up at half-court which was long thus ending the game as the Lumberjacks and their fanbase erupted. The win allows Oakwood to advance to the District Semifinals where they will face Bellefontaine, a team from the same conference as Kenton Ridge and who split a pair of games with the Cougars during the year. White ended the night with 25 points in a losing effort and did everything he could to keep the Cougars in it as long as possible. Oakwood was paced by Hoersting who finished with a game-high 27 points, on 11-of-13 shooting. New divisions mean more locations needed in boys basketball and postseason 2025. Division III basketball got a head start on sectional action with a Miami Valley League rematch between Vandalia Butler and Xenia over at Centerville High School. Butler entered the postseason as the 3-seed and looking for some revenge against the Buccs. The last time the 2 met, Xenia defeated the Aviators 62-60, despite a 35-point outing by Julius Rusk from Butler. The Aviators entered the contest having dropped their last 2 games, while Xenia was coming off a huge win over Fairborn.
Butler got going offensively early with the first 8 points of the game coming from Kellen Vandervort. Xenia wouldn’t get their first points until Gavin McManus buried a 3PT shot at the 5-minute mark and was one of the few bright points for the Buccs. Turnovers plagued them in transition, in the half-court and against any full court pressure. Even with the issues on offense, Xenia was in a good spot throughout the game and ended the quarter down 14-10. Offense continued to be an issue to start the next quarter of play. It took about 2 minutes of missed shots before Charlie Neely made a 3PT shot to end the drought. Butler would balloon the lead slightly. Devin Withers took it upon himself to pick up the slack and get the Buccs into a groove. Withers would make a 3PT shot after Neely broke the ice as Xenia upped their ball pressure, but this game turned into a broken record with the repeat. Withers and Cayden Smith would attack the rim and score for Xenia in the paint. Butler would break the press on the ensuing possession and score pretty quickly. The back-and-forth continued as Butler took a halftime lead 28-26. It felt like Xenia had found their rhythm and was in a place where if they were able to keep the game within 5 points, they had a chance to pull the upset. instead, Butler offensively left their foot on the gas and continued to take advantage of breaking Xenia’s press. The Aviators were leaning on Vandervort, who was playing out of his mind offensively. Butler would extend the lead to 7 points around the halfway point of the quarter. With the points being scored against the press, Xenia settled into a jump trap which began to pay dividends. Xenia would get a stop, but then get a turnover or offensive foul called. The balancing act stayed on the side of the Aviators as Butler extended their halftime lead to 47-39 at the end of the third quarter. With only a quarter left to play, Xenia made their final adjustment; win the offensive glass. Having plenty of athletes, the Buccs started attacking missed shots and getting some opportunities around the rim. They were winning that battle, but they continued to get beat in transition, as Butler would push the tempo when they could. While Xenia would not stop offensively, they were showing signs of slowing. Butler would hang on and defeat Xenia for the 2nd time and avenge their loss just 22 days prior with a 66-57 win. Kellen Vandervort, who scored 6 points in the last meeting, led all scorers with 30 points, on 11-of-13 shooting. It was a season high for the senior guard as he took advantage of standout Julius Rusk receiving attention defensively and picked up that slack. The win secured a spot for the Aviators in the District Semifinals. While they wouldn’t know at the time, they would be facing Chaminade-Julienne Eagles. C-J struggled in their game, beating Belmont 53-45 later that evening. That win set up a top 5 seed showdown at Centerville High School on February 25th. Division I, II and IV did not have any games on Tuesday. Division III had quite a few openers.
West Carrollton needed OT to take out Tecumseh and won 63-58 with the extra period. After taking a 9-point lead early, West Carrollton allowed the Arrows to fight back and take a 2-point lead into the locker room. A back and forth exchange ensued with the two teams needing OT to finalize. With the win, the Pirates advance to face Bellbrook on February 25th in the District Semifinal. Turpin took out Goshen 54-48 to advance in their tournament opener. The Spartans led for much of the game against a Warriors team that struggled much of February. With the win, Turpin advances to face Monroe on February 22nd in the 2nd round. Trotwood-Madison defeated Greenville 92-34 in their opener. The win puts the Rams in the District Semifinal against Piqua on February 25th. Greeneview avenged a 19-point loss earlier in the year by beating West Liberty-Salem 68-45 in their tournament opener. The Rams had won 4 of their last 5 entering the game while West Liberty-Salem was without Taran Logwood who has been out since December 23rd. The Rams will advance to face Waynesville on 2-21. Seven Hills jumped out to a 25-point lead and never looked back as they defeated Norwood 67-27. The Hornets were the top seed in Cincinnati in Division V and will now face Clermont Northeastern on February 25th. Clermont Northeastern stunned Madeira in their opener 42-41. The Rockets led for much of the 1st half and allowed Madeira to climb back in the 2nd half. Madeira had been one of the hotter teams entering the tournament, winning 10 of their last 11. With the win, Clermont Northeastern will now face Seven Hills in the District Semifinal. Top seeded Miami Valley Christian Academy scored 51 points in the 1st half and defeated Blanchester 74-37 in their tournament opener. The Lions setup an intriguing District Semifinal with Deer Park, who defeated SCPA 69-31in their opener. The two will face off in the District Semifinals on February 25th. CCPA defeated New Miami in their tournament openers 68-43. The Lions will advance to face Lockland in the 2nd round. Middletown Christian used a balanced scoring night to defeat Spencer Center 63-36. They will now face Fayetteville-Perry in the 2nd round. |
Written by: Tony Peters & Seth KeimEdited and Published by: Seth Keim Archives
February 2025
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