Caged at state, Poland was unable to stop Hitchens

By Joe Scalzo

COLUMBUS — About a half-hour after Thursday’s game, Poland High boys basketball coach Ken Grisdale stood in a hallway behind Value City Arena when Chillicothe senior Anthony Hitchens walked past.

“This guy,” Grisdale said, smiling. “Blame him.”

The best season in Poland history ended early because a 5-foot-9 point guard wouldn’t let it continue.

Using quickness, poise, a variety of running floaters and a “How’d he make that?” fadeaway 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer, Hitchens helped the Cavaliers do what no one else has been able to do this season: Beat the Bulldogs.

“We haven’t seen anyone like Hitchens,” said Grisdale, following a 78-70 loss to Chillicothe in a Division II state semifinal. “He’s the real deal.”

Added Hitchens, “When the lights go on, I like to show everyone what I’m made of.”

The University of Akron recruit and first team All-Ohioan finished with 24 points on 11 of 18 shooting to go along with six rebounds and three assists as the second-ranked Cavaliers (24-2) advanced to play Toledo Libbey in Saturday’s final.

But Hitchens’ impact can’t be summed up with statistics.

Poland’s defense, which applies pressure from baseline-to-baseline and relies on a variety of traps, normally frustrates opponents into making mistakes, creating opportunities on offense.

But Hitchens’ quickness allowed him to beat the press.

And when Poland backed off, Hitchens threw over the defenders, setting up 2-on-1 situations on the other end.

He saved his best stretch for late in the third quarter. After Poland (25-1) used a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to six (44-38) with two minutes left, Chillicothe coach Gary Kellough called a timeout to deliver a message: Get the ball to Hitchens.

“In a lot of games you have kids you want shooting the basketball and kids you do not want shooting the basketball,” said Kellough, drawing chuckles afterward. “I said, ‘Let’s get the ball to 24 [Hitchens] and let him create and score.’

“You have to forget about egos sometimes and just say, ‘Hey, it’s time to do what we do best and get to the person who does it best for us.’”

Hitchens made Chillicothe’s last three shots, including the fadeaway 3-pointer in the corner, to boost the margin back to 11 (51-40) entering the final period.

“His 10- to 15-foot pull-up, that’s what killed us,” added Poland senior guard Ben Umbel. “David [White] had a hand in his face every time. That must be his shot because he made it every time.

“That’s a backbreaker. He’s definitely the real deal.”

Poland trailed by as many as 17 midway through the fourth quarter before making a few late baskets to make the final margin more respectable.

Umbel, a first team All-Ohioan and one of two returning starters from last year’s state semifinal team, played one of the best games of his career, despite aggravating a left shoulder injury in the first half and injuring his ankle in the fourth quarter.

Forced to carry the load on offense, he scored 28 points on 10 of 12 shooting and added eight rebounds, five assists and six steals.

“Ben’s a warrior,” said Grisdale.

Chillicothe’s game plan focused on clamping down on Poland’s outside shooters — the Bulldogs made just 9 of 35 from 3-point range, including just 1 of 14 in the first half — and stopping Umbel’s dribble penetration.

They didn’t stop Umbel, but the Cavaliers made him work for everything.

“The Umbel kid, we knew we wasn’t going to shut him down,” Kellough said. “We just wanted to keep him out of the lane because he’s a tough player. He broke us down a lot with his dribble penetration.

“He’s a tremendous player.”

White added 12 points, sophomore Niko Fatimus had 11 and sophomore Ben Donlow scored seven points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

Six-foot-seven senior Ray Chambers, a second team All-Ohioan, had game-highs with 31 points and 17 rebounds for the Cavaliers, using his height and his athletic ability to dominate the Bulldogs inside.

“We haven’t seen a lot of height,” Grisdale said. “More important than scoring, he changed a lot of shots around the rim. The length really bothered us.”

Although the top-ranked Bulldogs fell short of their ultimate goal, Grisdale was able to keep the season in perspective.

“We’re not going to walk out of here with our head hanging,” he said. “We’re hurting, but the bottom line is we’ve very proud of ourselves and what we’ve accomplished this season.”

scalzo@vindy.com