Jace Watren reaches for two of his team-high 21 points in Wednesday’s district final win over Gamble Montessori. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
In full attack mode from the opening tip, Versailles used 17 and 22 point performances by Carson Heitkamp and Jace Watren to push their tournament agenda into next week with a convincing win over Gamble Montessori.
University of Dayton Arena – From the size of the smile from Versailles boys basketball coach Travis Swank, you would have thought that Wednesday’s 74-55 win over Gamble Montessori in the Division III district title game was the school’s first.
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Far from it. There have been plenty.
No, what had Swank beaming was the efficiency, the precision, and the on-court authority they displayed in beating a team out of Cincinnati, one with a much better record (19-5), and a certain urban je ne sais quoi of overconfidence. It was the clear evidence of scouting, preparation, and the coming of age of his basketball team.
Carson Heitkamp collects a pair of his 17 points in the win over Gamble.
“I’m proud of how well they paid attention to the details in practice,” said Swank. “Our scout plan was to make sure everything was contested. Nothing gets to the rim. We worked on a lot of zone the last couple of days, different zones, and switched to a diamond-and-0ne when their #4 (Ta’Ron Patterson) started to hurt us.
We practiced this hard for two days straight, we’ve sprinkled in some things throughout the year, and credit to our kids. Their mindset and their focus was on point. They’ve been willing to be coached up in practice and they executed it out here tonight.”
Yeah, that would make a coach smile, along with a 6-0 run to start the game. That helps. Versailles scored on three of its first four possessions, AJ Griesdorn taking the ball right at the rim, into the heart of the Gamble’s interior defense, challenging, drawing fouls, and sending the message…your 19-5 and your zip code isn’t that intimidating.
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On defense, Swank’s Tigers had their hands on everything, pawing the basketball loose, scrambling after loose balls, and frustrating Gamble with a different demonstration of skill and athleticism. Gamble would not so much as score until the 3:00 mark of the quarter, quickly made a run of their own, but still trailed Versailles and Griesdorn’s 8 points by quarter’s end, 16-13.
AJ Griesdorn elevates to score over Gamble’s Desmond Davis.
How important is a good start in basketball? Plenty, given that the early lead allowed them to play with additional confidence at the start of the second quarter.
Drake Ahrens caught fire, followed Griesdorn’s lead, attacked to score a pair of buckets, but got to the line 9 times where he converted 6 of them. He finished the quarter with ten points, and that’s good…because Gamble’s Ta’Ron Patterson began to lob mortars in from behind the three-point line, tied the game at 18, and his fourth three-pointer of the half gave the Gators their only lead of the game at the 5:09 mark, 21-20.
Versailles went back to work, going on a 10-0 run, ignited by Carson Heitkamp, who finished the quarter with 6 points, but an inspired threesome of Heitkamp, Ahrens, and Jace Watren would account for all of Versailles’ 20 points – Watren adding insult to injury with a shot at the horn on which he was fouled and converted both free throws. Down by a point just five minutes earlier, they led at the break 36-26.
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It took the Tigers no time to resume the assault at the start of the third quarter, going on a 6-0 run while hitting on all cylinders. The passing was crisp, they ran the floor with their heads up, seeing the open man. And even with Gamble having a 6-0 run of its own, Versailles kept building its lead, piling up fouls on Gamble, and getting to the line. Watren would score 10 of their 24 points as they increased the margin to 54-37 by quarter’s end.
Drake Ahrens contorts to put up a shot in the first half of Wednesday’s district final with Gamble Montessori.
Gamble’s record was probably legit for the fact of their obvious size and skill, but Versailles 14-11 mark had obviously come against the better competition of rural west-central Ohio, and that juggernaut called ‘The MAC’. Frustration began to set in, turnovers, and Swank’s Tigers were getting every rebound on Edwin C. Moses Boulevard. By game’s end that margin, alone, was nearly two to one (38-21).
And like interchangeable parts, the Tigers kept swapping the offensive load to the open man, their ball movement responsible for one open cut to the rim after another. The fourth quarter belonged to Heitkamp, who scored 6 of his 17 points in rapid-fire fashion as the fouls continued to mount on Gamble (23), along with the score. Ta’Ron Patterson would collect 13 of his game-high 30 points in the second half, but it was much too little, and much too late. The clock ran out on a 74-55 score, and the Tigers’ district title.
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“We came here to play with no fear,” added Swank, outside the locker room, afterwards. “We told them that you can’t come to a district championship and be fearful. If you do bad things are going to happen to you.
“We haven’t had a great season record-wise, but we still believed in ourselves. We still believe we’re a really good team. And you just saw us grow up as a basketball team tonight.”
Ethan Wilker takes the foul prior to taking 2 of his 6 points.
Ta’Ron Patterson led all scorers with 30 points, as Gamble shot 41% from the floor. The Gators’ only other significant scorer was Dion Saunders, with 10.
For Versailles, Jace Watren finished with 21 points, Heitkamp had 17 (along with 22 rebounds), AJ Griesdorn had 16 points, and Drake Ahren finished with 14. Ethan Wilker added 6 as Versailles finished by shooting 53% from the floor, and 75% from the foul line.
Heitkamp’s night, with the 17 points and 22 rebounds, could hardly have contained more, but his was just a portion of an effort in efficiency.
“It’s nice to know that these guys are going to be there for you,” said Heitkamp. “We just try to play as a team and go from there.”
His 22 rebounds, as it turned out, were as important as the 17 points.
“If you get the rebound they can’t score,” he smiled. “We kept telling each other that we have to slow down [pace]. We can’t let them play the way they want. If we play our game they’re going to be here following us. They tried to come back, but we kept getting the rebounds and doing what we do.”
It was pretty to watch, and worthy of smiles. None broader than that of Travis Swank for the fact that his #11 seed had beaten the #2 seed and they’ll move on to a regional semi-final game next week at Trent Arena. If I had better records I’d tell you how many previous, but I don’t. And it doesn’t matter, anyway.
I’m sure that Swank has said it at some point in the last week…the only one that matters is the one we play next!
He was smiling, of course.
Versailles – Tiger Basketball – 2024 Division III District Final Champs
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