March Madness kicked off this afternoon
with Manhatten taking it to
Florida, but March Mania has
been going on in Ohio for several
weeks. The OHSAA boys basketball tournament is arguably the most exciting and
talent rich tournament in the country and tonight at
University of Dayton
Arena it was back in action. The Southwest District Regional
semi-finals set the Sycamore Aviators against the Big Blue of Hamilton and the
Lancers of LaSalle against the red hot Springfield South
Wildcats.
The Aviators and Big Blue started things
off in the early game and it appeared the Aviators may have been confused about
that start time. While the Big Blue
came out on fire scoring 20 points in the first frame, the Aviators struggled
with only 2 field goals.
Hamilton’s suffocating
defense held Sycamore scoreless the first 2:30 of the quarter when Sycamore’s Brad Konerman hit a three to break the drought. The Big Blue finished the quarter with a
15 point advantage, having no problem with the Aviator man-to-man defense,
leading 20-5.
The Aviators started out on a different
note and a zone defense in the second scoring the first 7 points of the quarter
to cut the lead to 8. At the
5:50 mark Coach Larry Allen called a thirty second timeout to settle his team, but right out of the
timeout Sycamore’s Mario Kirkendall hit another three
to cut the lead to five. The
Aviators did not let up the rest of the way, battling back to make it a 4 point
game at the half. At the half,
Hamilton led 33-29, but Sycamore had
outscored the Big Blue 24 – 13 in the second frame and clearly had the momentum
edge heading into the locker room.
Both teams came out of halftime with an
energy that you can only find when basketball teams play in March. The Aviators continued their charge
bombing away from three point land.
At the 6:13 mark, Scott Langhorne’s three point shot gave the
Aviators their first lead, 36-34, and
Hamilton immediately took a time
out. The lead went back and forth
with several ties, but eventually
Hamilton regained the edge. The Big Blue pulled ahead during the
last minute pushing the lead back to five, 47-42.
The Big Blue were
able to maintain and extend the lead during the fourth. By the
2:32 mark
Hamilton had an eight point
advantage, 57-49. Inside the one
minute mark the lead was nine for the Big Blue, 62-53. Sycamore made a tremendous run to get
back in the game after a disastrous first quarter, but ultimately the Big Blue
was too much.
Hamilton advances to the
Regional final 65-55.
Latez Williams, Adam Myers-White, Jason Miller and Brandon Lampley all scored in double digits for the Big Blue. Myers-White and Miller led with 15 a
piece. Miller also grabbed 11
rebounds in the win. Junior point
guard Mike Kimmey scored 18 in the Aviator
loss.
The
second game of the night pitted two of the state’s hottest teams against one
another as LaSalle took on Springfield South. AND THEY’RE OFF!
Anyone who has followed either
of these teams knows that each loves dictate the tempo of the game by playing
suffocating defense and getting out on the break. When both teams try to set this pace it
makes for one exciting game.
LaSalle coach, Dave Flemming, utilizes every
player on his roster and presses the entire game, and tonight was no
different. However, the Wildcats
seemed to welcome it as they broke the press and worked for easy baskets. South grabbed an early lead and held it
through the first quarter, 23-17.
The second quarter went off at the same
pace until coach Flemming called a thirty second
timeout with 4:41 remaining.
Wildcat coach, Larry Hamm, took the opportunity to speak to the officials
after several calls were made against the Wildcats. The discussion was not lively, but the
South fans made sure the referees knew they disagreed with their last few
calls. LaSalle came out of the
timeout and scored four unanswered to cut the lead to two. But the Wildcats stormed back not
letting up against the relentless Lancer pressure.
South held a 7 point lead as
time wound down in the second and pushed it to 10 when James Cooper hit a three
just before the buzzer sounded, 43-33.
The pace of the game was unbelievable. At the half the biggest question seemed
to be whether South was going to be able to keep pace. The main difference was South’s three
point shooting.
They were 7 of 12 in the quarter including a 4-7 effort from Jabriel Thomas.
South did not miss a beat in the third
quarter and you could tell that Coach Hamm has a strong conditioning
program. The highlight of the
quarter came with 2:57 remaining when St. Bonaventure signee, Isiah Carson, made a
perfect alley oop pass to Von Davis who seemed to come out of orbit to throw
down a monster jam. That pushed the
South lead to 14, 55-41. South was
simply relentless never losing it under the constant pressure they kept pushing
the ball through the press getting transition baskets and playing remarkable
defense. Ultimately, LaSalle was
held to three points the entire quarter while the Wildcats pushed the lead to
17, 62-45.
LaSalle made it clear that, to win the
game, the Wildcats would have to make their free throws. By the mid point of the fourth quarter
the Lancer pressure was finally catching up to South
and you could tell their players were getting tired. LaSalle charged back taking advantage of
a beleaguered South squad and drew to within 5 at the
1:30 mark off a Ray
Ruberg three pointer, 70-75. South
awoke and reached down deep and scored two baskets before another three from
Darenn Mansoor of
LaSalle. 39.5
remaining, South ball, South lead 79-73. This is what tournament time is all
about.
South breaks the press and James Cooper is
fouled. He makes one of two. A quick three point shot and miss from
LaSalle, rebound South and they hit their free throws
to seal the deal. The cherry on the
top for South came with another
Carson to
Davis alley-oop dunk as time
expired. Springfield South Wildcats
defeat the LaSalle Lancers 84-75.
There were several impressive performances
in the game. Two Wildcats finished
with double doubles. Junior forward
Nate Miller had 15 boards to go with 15 points and
Isiah Carson had 14 points to go along with 10
assists. It’s a good thing
Carson was shelling
out those assist because had he not hit Von David on the two dunks, its possible
Davis would have jumped clear out of
UD Arena.
Davis finished with a career
high 20. Two more Wildcats scored
in double digits, James Cooper and Jabriel Thomas had
13 and 16 respectively. Zach Welter
of LaSalle scored 22 for the Lancers and pulled down 8 boards in the
loss.
Division III –
Wright
State Regional Semi-Final
Scores
Cincinnati
Reading
54
Ripley Union
43
Versailles
51
Bloom-Carroll
43