Hayden Henry goes hard to the glass over Darby defender Kade Romine during Upper Arlington’s 55-49 defeat of the visiting Panthers. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Gapen)
The Bears bounced back from a blowout loss by making big stops down the stretch as they handed the Panthers just their second loss this winter.
Upper Arlington, OH – There’s rarely been a novel approach from the opposing defenses Upper Arlington has faced this winter: Most nights, it’s been centered around clogging up the middle.
The Golden Bears are learning how to flip the script, which could make even their best opponents think twice about putting so much focus on 6-foot-9 junior center and Ohio State-commit Alex Smith.
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Facing one of its toughest challenges to date Saturday night, UA produced the stops it needed defensively to bounce back from a blowout loss less than 24 hours prior for a 55-49 win over rising Hilliard Darby.
Veteran central Ohio columnist Jarrod Ulrey writes the OCC and sports at large for Press Pros
“Our team breaks down a lot, and tonight we did a great job sticking together,” UA junior guard Hayden Henry said. “Obviously there were a lot of lead changes, but we got a gritty win out there.”
The biggest defensive play was made by UA senior guard Cal Casey, who took a charge during the final moments to help his team close out the victory.
“We got a couple stops that were huge,” Bears coach Joe Bills said. “Cal Casey had one of his best offensive games, but he did what he does as well as anybody in the city, taking charges, and oftentimes they’re at the most important times in the game. He took a charge that gave us a chance to win the game. It was a big, big play.”
Smith was limited to 12 points and seven rebounds, and even had a couple shots blocked, but Bills had a similar sentiment to Henry about how his team’s “grit” represents the building block for a long postseason run.
Darby’s Ty Maul attempts to block a shot in the lane by Upper Arlington’s Alex Smith. Maul held OSU commit Smith to 3 buckets on the night.
While Darby has a three-game lead in the Ohio Capital Conference-Cardinal Division and is 14-2 overall after the non-league loss, UA is likely out of the OCC-Central title race but is 11-5 overall and figures to be a dangerous opponent during the Division I district tournament.
The Bears have won five of six but were coming off a 55-31 loss on Friday to Olentangy Liberty.
“They did a good job (on Smith),” Bills said. “They packed it in on him and we weren’t able to finish around the rim as a team as well as we needed to, but Hayden Henry stepped up and knocked down some shots from the perimeter. … I was really proud of our team’s overall grit and staying together. We had a tough loss last night and we needed to bounce back.”
There were a dozen lead changes through the game’s first three quarters, but the Bears took the first step toward seizing control with a 7-0 run early in the fourth period capped by a three-pointer from Henry with 4 minutes, 1 second remaining that gave them a 48-41 lead.
Alex Perie fires off a shot for 3 of his 14 points against the Bears.
Darby, which entered on a nine-game winning streak, responded with an 8-0 run that included a three-pointer each from junior guard Kade Romine and senior guard Alex Perie and led 49-48 with 2:19 to go.
Smith knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:27 to go, and the Panthers turned it over on the next possession.
Casey made one of two free throws with 47.8 left for a 51-49 lead and then made the game’s biggest defensive play when he took a charge from Darby senior Ty Maul with 16.6 remaining.
Smith, who came in averaging 20 points, made a pair of foul shots with 15.5 to go to make it 53-49, and Darby failed to get a good look at the basket on the ensuing possession as UA held on.
“We had a rough game last night but we flipped the switch and said we were going to come back today and play better and stronger,” Smith said. “We’ve progressed pretty well. We took two losses to Liberty and (Olentangy) Orange, and we’ve played hard almost every game.
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“(My season has) been going pretty well, but the last couple games have been a little bit of a struggle. I just have to take this week to re-set with us going against Orange (Feb. 7). Today I got blocked a couple times and I have to play through that. Even though I only put up (12) points, these guys have my back.”
Bears’ defender Luke Mitchell attempts to deny the lane to Darby’s Kade Romine.
Henry, who is averaging nearly 10 points, led the Bears with 15 while Casey added 13.
Neither team led by more than four points during the first half, and the game was tied at 39 after three periods.
Maul made a pair of 3s in the third quarter and finished with 17 points and both Perie and Romine scored 14 for the Panthers, who went just 4-19 a year ago but are on the verge of winning their first league championship since 2007-08.
They were coming off a 61-49 win Friday night over Dublin Jerome and next face Dublin Scioto on Tuesday in another non-league matchup.
“We’ve got a veteran group,” said Chris Maul, who is in his 11th season as Darby’s head coach and his 21st season coaching in the program overall. “Like I told these guys, a highly competitive, tight game in early February versus a high-level opponent is what every coach this time of year craves for their guys. We came out on the losing end in this one, but this was a great experience, and I think we’ll handle it better the next time.
“We’ve got six seniors who are highly connected, and a couple juniors who are giving us great minutes. We practice well, and it’s a phenomenal group. I’m ecstatic with our progress, but we’re not content because we feel like we have a lot of room still to grow.”
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