Friday, March 23, 2007
Despite losing O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker, the Trojans are back in the state championship game.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS -- The circus has left town. Apparently several topflight performers stayed behind.
Despite losing O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker, North College Hill kept alive its hopes for a third consecutive Division III state championship by beating Wheelersburg 69-66 in overtime in the semifinals Thursday.
Damon Butler's running one-handed 3-pointer at the buzzer was the difference for the surprising Trojans (16-7), who started the tournament trail having barely won more games (10) than they had lost (7).
It was a wild ending, unlike the previous two years when all the drama had been taken out of games involving the powerhouse Trojans.
Wheelersburg's Seth Cowgill forced the overtime by hitting a long 3-pointer with three seconds left in regulation.
Overtime
In the overtime, Nathaniel Glover gave North College Hill a 65-63 when he slashed through the lane and tossed in an arching shot that barely cleared the front edge of the rim with 21 seconds left. After the Pirates' Camden Miller hit a foul shot to cut the lead to a point, Glover hit the front end of a double-bonus with 7.8 seconds left.
He missed the second, however, and Drew Spradlin was fouled in the backcourt by Glover. Down by two, the second-team all-stater coolly hit both free throws to tie the score with 4.6 seconds left.
NCH then inbounded to Butler, a 5-foot-11 junior speedster who scissored through the defense and tossed up a soft shot that left his right hand just as the buzzer sounded. It hit nothing but net, setting off a wild celebration as his teammates scrambled off the bench and mobbed him on the floor.
Leaders
Butler, a third-team All-Ohioan, had 26 points, five assists and seven rebounds, with Glover adding 15 points, Dwayne Parks 11 and Alfonso McPherson 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Trojans will meet top-ranked Findlay Liberty-Benton (26-0) in Saturday's championship game. The Eagles beat Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph 63-56 in an earlier semifinal.
Miller, an Associated Press first-team All-Ohioan and co-player of the year in the division, had 26 points and 17 rebounds for the Pirates (24-3), with Spradlin adding 14 points and Cowgill 13.
NCH dominated the first half, leading by scores of 12-3 after the opening 4 1/2 minutes, 17-9 after a quarter and 29-15 at the half. The Trojans were still on top by 13 late in the third quarter and by as many as 10 in the fourth before the Pirates' frenzied comeback capped by Cowgill's 3 at the end of regulation.
Liberty-Benton 63, Cle. VASJ 56
Nathan Hyde had 27 points and 11 rebounds and top-ranked Findlay Liberty-Benton scored its last 13 points on free throws.
Hyde hit 13-of-16 free throws and had four assists and a steal while never leaving the floor.
Liberty-Benton (26-0), a unanimous No. 1 in the final regular season poll, picked up its last field goal on a Hyde basket with 5:12 left. From then on, the Eagles were 13-of-16 at the line.
T.J. Recker added 13 points and freshman Aaron Craft -- who had not had a good game until the final few minutes -- made five free throws in the last 90 seconds to keep the Eagles in control.
Nate Barnes, a third-team all-stater, had 15 points and Ashen Ward and Maurice Haynes each had 12 points for ninth-ranked VASJ (18-8), making its 10th trip to the state tournament. The Vikings lost in the semifinals a year ago, too.
Ward, who also shared the player of the year award with Hyde and Wheelersburg's Camden Miller, had seven of the Vikings' 17 turnovers.
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