Tuesday, March 02, 1999
St. Bernard advances to sectional final
Titans slip past Batavia
BY DAVE SCHUTTE
Enquirer contributor
Ryan Schmitt scored all of his 15 points in the second half Monday night, rallying St. Bernard to a 60-56 victory over Batavia in a Division III sectional semifinal game at Sycamore.
It was the second straight game Schmitt was scoreless in the first half, only to get hot after intermission.
“I don't know why I haven't scored in the first half,” said Schmitt, a junior guard. “Both games after I hit the first shot in the third quarter, I got my confidence back.”
The victory advanced St. Bernard into Thursday's (7p.m.) sectional championship game against Finneytown at Sycamore. It is St. Bernard's first appearance in the Division III sectional championship game.
During the final two minutes, Schmitt drilled a three-point field goal to push the Titans into a 56-50 lead with 1:56 remaining. He then sank two free throws with 13 seconds left to clinch it.
“I told the kids after the game this was a great victory because Batavia played an outstanding game,” St. Bernard coach Jerry Radtke said.
“They must have made 65 percent of their three-point shots and our kids could have quit, but they kept battling.”
In a game that the lead changed 11 times, a 7-0 run by St. Bernard in the fourth quarter gave the Titans a 56-50 lead with less than two minutes re maining.
But, the Bulldogs battled back to within two at 58-56 on two three-point field goals by Mike Gardner. The Bulldogs then forced a turnover and had the ball with 18 seconds remaining.
On the inbounds play under the basket, the ball was passed to Batavia's Jason Lowe underneath. Lowe went up for the shot in traffic but the ball rolled off the rim and James Spikes came down with the rebound. Schmitt was then fouled and sank the free throws.
“That was a big miss,” Radtke said. “I've been on both sides of this type of situation.”
Although Batavia converted seven three-pointers, Radtke elected to remain in either a 2-3 or 2-2-1 zone until late in the game.
“Batavia had the height advantage and I was afraid of the matchup on the inside,” Radtke said. “We probably stayed in the zone too long.”
This was a game of spurts.
The Bulldogs took a quick 6-2 lead but St. Bernard scored nine consecutive points for a 11-6 lead before Batavia went on a 6-0 run to claim a 16-13 advantage at the break.
During the second quarter, the lead changed hands three times with St. Bernard's Gardner sinking a three-point field goal with five second remaining to tie the game at halftime.
Another factor in the outcome was St. Bernard's ability to take away Batavia's fast break. This forced the Bulldogs to play a half-court game.
“We don't have enough talent to run,” Radtke said. “We only used six players and I though we were tired the sec ond half.”
Although Lowe missed the tying shot, he scored five points in the fourth quarter to give the Bulldogs the lead for the final time at 50-49 with 5:17 left.
Playing without a starting senior, Batavia should be a Division III team to contend with next season.
BATAVIA (56) — Kelley 5 1 12, Lowe 3 0 7, Hennessey 3 0 8, Pearam 6 2 14, Kent 0 1 1, Gardner 5 1 14. Totals: 22 5 56.
ST. BERNARD (60) — Puckett 4 3 12, Schmitt 5 2 15, Kramer 3 2 9, Spikes 8 2 18, Gurley 1 0 2, Barge 2 0 4. Totals: 23 9 60.
Batavia ....... 16 10 17 13—56
St. Bernard ....... 13 13 17 17—60
Three-point goals: B—Kelley, Lowe, Hennessey 2, Gardner 3. SB—Puckett, Schmitt 3, Kramer. Records: B 16-6, SB 19-3.
• Finneytown 71, Bethel-Tate 55 — Brian Monterosso scored 10 fourth-quarter points for Finneytown, the No. 2 seed.
The Wildcats built a 36-23 halftime lead and held Bethel at bay the rest of the way. Jason Gardner and Monterosso each scored eight first-half points.
FINNEYTOWN (71) — Sweet 3 1 8, Calhoun 3 0 6, Gardner 6 1 16, Thompson 7 1 15, Monterosso 9 4 22, Meitrott 1 0 2, Veser 1 0 2. Totals: 30 7 71.
BETHEL-TATE (55) — Wallace 3 0 6, Cunningham 1 0 2, Stamper 1 0 3, Todd 4 0 10, Miller 8 4 20, Hesketh 3 0 6, Ladd 1 0 2, Rector 1 0 2, Allen 2 0 4. Totals: 24 4 55.
Finneytown ....... 21 15 16 19—71
Bethel-Tate ....... 12 11 11 21—55
Three-point field goals: F—Sweet, Gardner 3. B—Stamper, Todd 2. Records: F 15-6, B 12-10.
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