Charlie Neely and all of the Aviators looked for room all night in the paint against Stebbins’ 6-foot-5, 281-pound Nick Vincent. Neely scored 11 points. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie Wright-Daniel)
Two big runs put the Aviators in position to win, but they needed to reset themselves in the fourth quarter to withstand the Indians’ comeback.
Riverside, OH – Butler played several good minutes of basketball Friday night. Enough of the style head coach Andy Holderman demands and enough to defeat Stebbins 55-49 and remain unbeaten.
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But the Aviators, who led by as many as 15 points, also played bad and ugly basketball for stretches. The kind that leads to quick and out-of-rhythm shots, turnovers and porous defense. Sounds about right for the second day of January with only two players with significant varsity experience.
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The key for Butler (8-0 and 8-0 in the Miami Valley League) is to mature and learn for the next time, which comes fast on Tuesday at home against Tippecanoe (5-0, 5-0) in one of the league’s biggest matchups this season.
“I hope we learned that we can keep our poise, that we need to make sure that we don’t get caught up in the moment and try to do things that we’re not really capable of doing,” Holderman said. “The way they were going to get back into a game is by having multiple possessions. And as quickly as we shot it, we fed right into what they wanted to do.”
Julius Rusk advances the ball up the floor against Stebbins’ full-court pressure.
When the Aviators played the more deliberate style Holderman says suits their talents best, they dominated play. When they didn’t by not being patient for the best shot, well, Stebbins (6-4, 5-3) got the faster pace it wanted and almost came all the way back from an early second-half deficit of 15.
The Indians sped up the Aviators, forcing turnovers and converting fast breaks to pull within eight entering the fourth quarter.
“We started playing into their game,” Holderman said. “You got to take care of the basketball.”
Then the big hit came when Stebbins leading scorer Adrien Carter canned consecutive 3-pointers in the first minute of the fourth quarter to cut Butler’s lead to 41-39. In all, the Indians made five 3-pointers in the half much to the surprise of Butler. Stebbins came in shooting 27.6%.
“We can be a comfortable team, but once we want to play with their momentum, that’s when everything goes to chaos,” said senior Julius Rusk, who led the Aviators with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
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The final seven minutes were a case of Stebbins unable to get over the hump and Butler unable to put them well away despite taking a more calm and productive approach to Stebbins’ full-court press that had previously sped them out of their comfort zone. Baskets by Rusk and Mitch Craine in the final minute finally subdued Stebbins.
Mitch Craine gave Butler eight points off the bench and some important rebounds.
Butler’s defensive commitment played a role as well. When they were locked in, they produced 10-0 and 9-2 runs in the first half that led to a 32-20 halftime lead. But the defense drifted in the third quarter, somewhat undone by sloppy offense that helped fuel Stebbins’ fast break and comeback.
“We just need to play as a team and just get our defense set up,” said Butler senior Charlie Neely, who had 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
However, the first half turned out to be the cushion the Aviators needed.
The final 2:27 of the first quarter fit Holderman’s game plan. The Aviators made four consecutive mid-range jumpers from 10 to 16 feet to fuel a 10-0 run and a 15-5 lead entering the second quarter.
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In an era of many coaches running offense for layups and 3-pointers, Holderman embraces the mid-range game. His team practices those shots every day. During the first-quarter stretch, Toby Moore hit from 15 feet, Troy Fletcher from 10 and Randall Armstrong from 15 and 17 feet.
Randall Armstrong helped lead Butler’s offense with eight points and four assists.
“That’s an area where it’s not really being guarded as much,” Holderman said. “So you got to take advantage. I personally like that shot. If you’re just doing layups and threes, you don’t have to guard the whole court.”
The Aviators’ 9-2 run in the second quarter, conversely, came from 3-point range. Neely, their top 3-point shooter, began the run with a deep shot for a 26-13 lead with 3:05 left in the half on his team’s first attempt from the range.
Then the almost unthinkable happened. Rusk, who is 6-foot-4 and physical, gets his points in the low post and leads the MVL in field-goal percentage. But he had a wide-open look at a 3-pointer. And for the first time in his three varsity seasons he took the shot. And it went in.
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Stebbins big man Nick Vincent, a 6-foot-5 and 281-pound football linemen, didn’t follow Rusk to the arc. He kept his physical presence and dive-on-the-floor mentality in the paint.
Toby Moore Jr . scored all five of his points in the first half including a 3-pointer during a 9-2 run.
“I told him he had one look today because their big boy was sagging off in all the films I watched,” Holderman said. “So I said, ‘You got one shot. When you’re on balance, in rhythm, then I want you to shoot it.’ And by golly, he made it. Didn’t expect it, but good for him.”
True to his word, the next time Rusk had enough room to shoot from three, Holderman yelled “No” from the bench. And Rusk passed to a guard.
Moore hit the next 3-pointer, and in the span of 1:09 the Aviators had extended their lead to 32-15.
Holderman’s strategy is to shoot different ranges in practice and allow the players to determine what are good shots for them. Then, in the game, if that shot is available, he expects them to shoot it. He just wants them to work on remembering that directive when they have hot stretches like they did in the first half.
“When you get on a little run and the ball’s going in the basket pretty easily, then all the sudden we start doing things to let the other team start chipping away,” he said. “You get away from your fundamentals and your beliefs on defense.
“Sometimes that’s hard for a high school kid. You want them pumped, but you got to maintain some composure.”
When you don’t stay composed, leads shrink. But this time didn’t cost the Aviators. And on Tuesday against Tipp and high-scoring C.J. Bailey, they will need to remember what helps them be efficient and what doesn’t.
“Very excited, very pumped,” Neely said. “I know the guys are pumped. It’s gonna be a good game.”
Butler’s Troy Fletcher scored all eight of his points in the first half as the Aviators built a 12-point lead.
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