National Trail guard Kellen Laird dishes off in paint against Troy Christian. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Lee Woolery)
The favorites advanced with different degrees of difficulty Tuesday night in Division VI tournament action at Troy High School.
By Marcus Hartman for Press Pros
Troy, OH — Tuesday night was satisfying if not satiating for both Troy Christian and Fort Recovery.
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The Eagles and the Indians not only both advanced to district finals in Division VI, but took another step closer to the goals they laid out long before this interminable winter took hold at the end of November.
Of course, both squads are also hungry for more after officially advancing to the district final for the second straight year.
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“It feels great,” Fort Recovery senior guard Colson Post said after scoring 13 points in a 45-38 win over Northeastern. “This is what we’ve been playing for since when we lost last year — we need to get back to the district finals.
“And here we are.”
No. 4 seed Fort Recovery (14-10) had the bigger mismatch, at least on paper, but the Indians got a tougher challenge from No. 9 Northeastern before ultimately winning the nightcap at Troy High School.
The Jets (8-16) took advantage of FR’s preference to play zone early on, working the ball from side to size and in and out without much concern about how long it would take to get a shot they wanted. That produced a 6-3 lead for the underdogs after the first quarter.
Fort Recovery’s Colson Post scores on Northeastern’s Aiden Neer.
“We didn’t want to shoot a quick shot, but we also were not afraid to shoot an open shot,” said Northeastern coach Trevor Kushmaul, whose team normally plays more uptempo. “We told them all week, ‘Hey, look, we got to be willing to pass up a good shot for a great shot.’ And I think we did that. We hit some shots. The whole thing tonight was to get something early to kind of shake the nerves.”
They ran another 80 seconds off the clock to start the second before Aiden Neer scored a tough basket off the glass to give Northeastern a two-score lead. That forced Fort Recovery out of its zone, but the Jets kept pace and led 15-14 in the closing seconds of the first half.
Then disaster struck for the underdogs as Fort Recovery senior Douglas Bihn jumped a pass at midcourt and raced the other way in stride. He tossed the ball up and drew a whistle as the ball bounced twice on the rim then fell through the net as the horn sounded.
Bihn missed the free throw, but the Indians still had their first lead and something to feel good about going into the locker room.
“That was his read,” Fort Recovery coach Bob Leverette said. “We wanted to get up and get the ball back. So he just had a good read on the ball. That was huge. Doug’s a senior role guy, so for him to come down and make it and get fouled, it was huge.”
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The third quarter started with a much quicker pace for both teams, and the Jets continued to hang tough.
After the teams traded the lead multiple times in the third, Fort Recovery led 30-29 heading to the final quarter thanks to a layup by Breaker Jutte with 44 seconds to go.
Riston Taylor reaches for the rim in the Troy Christian win over National Trail.
Grant Fortkamp added a free throw early in the fourth, but the Jets tied it again on a crafty offensive move in the lane by Rhett Lough with 6:30 to go.
The next time down the floor, Fort Recovery’s Brody Barga drew a foul and made both free throws to break the tie. Then he made it a two-possession game with a put-back a couple of possessions later, and Jutte scored in the post to stretch the lead to 37-31.
Still the Jets did not back down as Caleb Smith earned a three-point play opportunity and cashed it in to cut the lead in half with 4:33 to go, but that was as close as they would get.
Sophomore Braylon Dilworth made a 3-pointer for Fort Recovery to push the lead back to six, then Barga made it eight with a layup with under three minutes to go.
“Early in the season, we would have probably lost that game to be honest with you,” Leverette said. “So they showed some character, adjusted. Once we got the lead, we played a little bit more comfortable and got what we wanted to get.
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“You give them the car keys and hope they drive the car straight, you know? We’ve got to trust that they’re going to make the right decisions out there, and they did down the stretch.”
Barga finished with nine points for the Indians while Dilworth and Jutte both had six points and Smith led Northeastern with 18.
Fort Recovery’s big man Hudson Overman works his way inside for a score.
In the first game, No. 2 seed Troy Christian (19-5) came out on top 60-40 over No. 5 National Trail (13-11), though the Eagles did not put the game away until the fourth quarter.
TC took control with a 14-2 run in the second quarter and led 34-20 at the half, but the Blazers won the third quarter 15-7.
Troy Christian senior Brennan Hochwalt made a 3 to start the scoring in the fourth, then teammate Austin Stangel connected from long range after a free throw by National Trail’s star point guard, Kellen Laird. That gave the Eagles a 45-35 lead, and Troy Christian’s leading scorer took over from there.
Senior Riston Taylor scored the next seven points for the Eagles on a layup off a backdoor cut, a mid-range jumper and a 3-pointer from the corner that stretched the lead to 56-40 with three and half minutes to go.
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That Taylor ended up with the ball in prime places to score was no accident.
Troy Christian coach Ray Zawadzki Jr. said he started drawing things up for Taylor in the second half to leaving nothing to chance.
Fort Recovery’s Breaker Jutte gets an easy basket in Tuesday’s district win over Northeastern.
“I think I went to almost everything in our repertoire just to try to find shots, because they made a run, cut that thing to six,” Zawadzki said. “Obviously not what we wanted to do to start the third, but I was proud of the way the kids responded to that, the way they executed in the half court offensively, and how they started getting back-to-back stops on the defensive end.”
Taylor finished with 21 points to lead all scorers while Stangel and Hochwalt each had 11 for Troy Christian. Laird led the Blazers with 11 points while Mason Cordle and Grady Ott each had eight.
“I love doing that stuff,” Taylor said when asked about dialing up more offense. “It kind of puts the defense in a scramble. (Being back in the district final) feels great. Fourth year in a row that I’ve been a part of this. So, you know, I just hope we can actually get a district title this time.”
For that to happen, the Eagles will have to beat No. 3 seed Emmanuel Christian.
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The Lions lost to Cedarville — a No. 1 seed in Division VII — to open the season but have not lost since. They are 21-1 won the Metro Buckeye Conference.
“We’ve busted our ass to be a four seed this year so let’s not let a Cinderella come to the dance,” Leverette said of his message to the team before its tourney opener against Covington and again Tuesday night against Northeastern.
“Now Friday we’re the Cinderella. Emmanuel Christian has the target on their back, so that’s huge. And our goal to start the season was to get to regionals this year. We got beat in the district finals last year to Anna, a good team. Now we’ve got to take that next step.
“It’ll be a battle.”
Troy Christian, a district winner in 2023 and ’24, will face No. 2 seed Cincinnati Deer Park, a 70-67 winner over No. 4 Cincinnati Country Day on Tuesday night.
“I think that the way we’re going right now, I feel good about our guys,” Zawadzki said. “I’m a guy that usually focuses on the game at hand, and now tonight I will start looking forward to the next team.”
As it was Tuesday, the Eagles’ goal will be to focus on the 32 minutes at hand — “to stay in the moment.”
“And you got 32 right in front of you,” Zawadzki said. “You don’t stay focused on that 32, you won’t have a next 32 and so I think over the years, what I’ve learned is, don’t take anything for granted. Play them like it’s your last play, last second of your career. And if you give that energy and that effort, you’re going to be successful.”
Both games will be at Fairborn High School on Friday night.
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