DIV. III BOYS BASKETBALL Akron St. V-M flies by United, 99-42

The nationally ranked Irish will play Lisbon on Monday in a district semifinal.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
SALEM -- The line of fans outside Salem High began to grow 90 minutes before the game.
Forty minutes before tipoff, nearly 3,700 fans had filled the gymnasium.
The main attraction was the nationally ranked Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High boys basketball team, which defeated United 99-42 Saturday to claim a Division III sectional title.
Up next: The Irish (20-1) will play Lisbon in a district semifinal Monday at 7 p.m.
"I told our kids, 'You need to go and make the most of this, because you don't know if you'll ever have another opportunity like this again,' " United coach Herman Miller said. "When we came in here and we walked by [St. Vincent-St. Mary's] fans who stood up and cheered for us, 45 minutes before the game, we got goose bumps. It was a thrill for us."
In the past few weeks, word had spread about St. Vincent-St. Mary, the defending Div. III state champion, playing in Salem.
Saturday, fans came to see the powerful team and its 6-foot-6 standout sophomore, LeBron James, who scored 19 points. James also excited the crowd three times with thundering slam dunks.
"This was a good opportunity to see how you stack up against the best," Miller said. "You don't play up some kind of Cinderella thing.
"You don't have to be better than the other team, you just have to outplay them for 32 minutes," he said. "Tonight, that just wasn't possible."
Saturday's game also was a chance for the Irish to show they are more than just James.
Support: Senior Aly Samabaly scored a game-high 24 points, including five 3-pointers, and sophomore Romeo Travis added 17 points and senior John Taylor 13.
"A lot of our kids don't get the respect that they deserve because LeBron is so highly acclaimed," St. Vincent-St. Mary coach Keith Dambrot said. "We can shoot the ball. That's not an aberration."
The Irish shot the ball so well, it forced United (10-12) to adjust its defense. The Eagles wanted to pack their defense close to the basket in an attempt to nullify St. Vincent-St. Mary's height, Miller said.
But the Irish became a threat from the outside, making 12 of their 23 attempts from long range.
"That was the one thing they did better than I thought they would," Miller said. "That makes a big difference."
United senior Jason Thompson ended his high school basketball career in style, scoring a team-high 22 points. Thompson, who was 6-of-9 from 3-point range, was impressed by the Irish.
"I've been playing varsity basketball for four years and I haven't seen anybody as good as this team," he said. "Nobody expected us to compete with these guys, so we just went out to have fun and see what happened."