Wildcats, Cardinals advance as rivals

Southington and Bloomfield will collide Friday night in a sectional final.
By DOUG CHAPIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
WARREN -- Southington High used a dominating finish and Bloomfield an exciting finish to advance Monday night in the Division IV boys basketball at Warren Harding.
Southington shut out Mathews in the final quarter on the way to a 58-40 triumph, while Bloomfield beat Badger, 50-44, in a game that was tied at 44 with just 5.3 seconds remaining. All four schools are members of the Northeastern Athletic Conference and had faced each other twice already.
That scenario will play out again Friday night when fourth-seeded Southington (12-9) faces Bloomfield (12-8) at 7:30 with a district semifinal berth at stake. The two split the season series, each winning on the other's home floor.
Southington coach Mike Karr couldn't remember being a part of a shutout quarter.
"I didn't realize it until I walked into the locker room and the kids were talking about it," he said. "We told the kids to just stick with it on defense. We were in the right place most of the night but number 21 [Lucas Buckner] kept hitting some great shots. We were just hoping he would cool off."
Buckner, who led Mathews (3-17) in scoring with 14 points, was 4-of-10 from behind the 3-point arc for the game, but had just one attempt in the fourth quarter. In fact, that was the impressive thing about Southington's defense in the quarter. Mathews was able to attempt only five shots and the Wildcats recorded five steals and forced two turnovers.
Southington repels Mathews
Southington was in command throughout, but at the end of each quarter the Mustangs would make a run. The Wildcats led 18-10 in the first quarter, but just 18-16 at the end of the period. Southington led 32-21 in period two, but the halftime lead was 33-26. In the third quarter, the Cats were on top 44-33, but the score entering the final quarter was 44-40.
"The momentum kept changing, especially late in the third quarter," Karr said. "We'd put up a quick shot and they'd go down and make one. But the kids showed wonderful poise. I think that was the best we've played all season as far as poise goes. We finished plays, made the extra pass, things we've been working on, and they looked good tonight."
Guard Trey Tietz led the Wildcats with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Southington was efficient as a team, shooting 55 percent (24-of-44). Dwayne Lettie and Kevin Henline added 11 points apiece, Brandon Wick contributed eight and Brad Gilanyi six.
Up-and-down season
Southington defeated Mathews twice during the regular season by scores of 54-52 and 56-28. That is somewhat indicative of the Wildcats' up and down season as they were among a group in the NAC including Bloomfield, Maplewood and Lordstown, all chasing undefeated Pymatuning Valley.
"For the most part our progress was steady, but we had some bumps," Karr said about his team which includes three juniors and a sophomore in the starting lineup. "I think some of it had to do with the inexperience on the bench. We had two sophomores and a freshman coming off the bench. We had a winning streak going late, then ran into Maplewood and PV, so we were happy to beat Bristol in our last game. That gave us a real springboard confidence-wise coming into the tournament."
Mathews coach Dan Campana had two freshmen and four juniors in his eight-man rotation. Junior forward John Scudier backed Buckner, also a junior, with eight points.
Bloomfield prevails
Bloomfield's Jesse Headley made both ends of a one-and-one free throw situation to tie the game with Badger (7-13) at 44-44 with 1:50 remaining.
After a steal by James Poole, the Cardinals' Lester Byler was fouled and went to the line for two shots with 5.3 seconds left. He made both for a 46-44 Bloomfield lead, then the fireworks began.
As the Braves hurried the ball up the floor, a Bloomfield player collided with the Badger ballhandler near the sideline. The Cardinals had a foul to give, but no foul was called and Bloomfield was awarded possession when the ball went out of bounds.
Byler was fouled following the inbounds pass and made those two free throws plus two more for a Badger technical foul.
Byler and Steven Wheeler scored 12 points each and Ryan Robinson added 10 for Bloomfield which ended a long string of tournament defeats.
Badger was led by Erich Bonar with 11 points and Tyler McNeely with 10.