Saturday, March 16, 2002
The Bristol senior led the Panthers past Strasburg-Franklin and into the state tournament.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANTON -- John King endured the two longest minutes of his young life after he was assessed with his fourth personal foul in Friday's Division IV regional final basketball game.
Even though King was the Northeast Inland District Player of the Year, Bristol coach Scott Groves felt he had no choice but to sit him with the Panthers nursing a 53-45 lead against Strasburg-Franklin with 4 minutes, 24 seconds remaining.
As King squirmed, the Tigers roared back to trim the Bristol lead to one point.
With three minutes to go and a trip to Columbus at stake, Groves sent his star senior back onto the court. And although the Tigers took one last lead, King helped the Panthers restore order to become rulers of the regional with a 62-56 triumph at Memorial Fieldhouse.
Thursday at 9 p.m., Bristol (24-1) will make its second state appearance in nine seasons in the Div. IV semifinal game at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center in Columbus.
"I was so happy that I started to cry," said King after scoring 16 points for 53 in two regional games. "This is something that we have wanted for so long. We're living in a fantasy right now -- it's unreal."
King admitted that his fourth-quarter time on the bench "was kind of scary. I got a little nervous there. I started nagging Coach because I couldn't sit any longer. I just had to get back in there to get everything under control."
Groves said he debated leaving King on the court.
"I knew he would play smart, but in a game of this magnitude, I didn't want to take any chances," Groves said. "When he came back into the game, he just took over like he always does. He amazes me on a daily basis."
First, King set up junior Craig Giesy for a drive that put Bristol ahead for keeps, 55-54.
Seconds later, the Panthers' David Whitt nailed a 3-pointer and King added two free throws to seal Strasburg's fate.
"He's the leader, he controls the floor," said Giesy of King. "We love having him on our team -- he runs it."
Dreaming: About Columbus, Giesy, who led Bristol with 18 points, said, "I'm so happy, I don't think it's even hit me yet. This has been a dream of ours ever since we were little and saw the '94 team go to state."
Early on, it appeared the Bristol players would only see a game in Columbus if they purchased tickets as the Tigers (19-7) jumped out to a 24-17 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Panthers responded with a 14-3 run to end the half.
About the shaky start that saw Bristol commit 10 first-quarter turnovers, Groves said, "It seemed the harder our kids were trying, things just didn't go our way in the first 12 minutes of the game.
"During a timeout, I told our kids that [they] had just taken their best run so let's give them one right back," Groves said. "And we came storming back.
"The way we ended that half, to go up by four with as bad as we played -- that was such a morale booster," Groves said. "They just never give up -- they have tremendous heart."
Giesy's 3-pointer with seven seconds to go before halftime gave Bristol a 31-27 lead.
Wearing them down: Because Strasburg features just seven players, Groves said the Bristol strategy was to "pressure them and try to tire them and force them into mistakes.
"Strasburg did an excellent job in the first half withstanding that pressure, but as the game went on, I think it finally started to wear them down," Groves said.
Late in the third quarter, King scored on a jump shot for a 39-32 lead. Strasburg's Tyler Dreher netted a 3-pointer to keep the game tight.
In the fourth quarter, Bristol opened an 11-point lead on free throws by King and Ben Imhoff, and a bucket by Sam Ratcliffe.
But the Tigers remained cool, posting an 8-0 run on 3-pointers by Dreher and Bart Hostetler, and a basket by Travis Dreher for a 48-45 score.
Giesy's 3-pointer and David Colley's basket from underneath restored the margin to a comfortable eight just before King sat with his fourth foul.
Whitt finished with nine points and Ratcliffe seven.
For Strasburg, Travis Dreher led with 16 points, while Hostetler had 15.
williams@vindy.com