Friday, March 05, 1999
St. Xavier stuns No. 1 West Hi
Bombers get Moeller next
BY BEN WALPOLE
Enquirer contributor
OXFORD — Matt Williams quarterbacked the St. Xavier football team to the state championship game. Now, Williams, a six-foot-one senior guard, is attempting to rally the basketball team back to the state finals.
On Thursday, Williams sank five-of-six free throws and came up with a key steal in the final 42 seconds, leading St. X to a 62-60 upset over Western Hills at Millett Hall.
The victory over the No. 1 seeded Mustangs advances St. X into Saturday's Division I sectional title game against Moeller, the No. 3 seed and a team St. X beat twice during the season.
After a rebound and basket by Danny Horace pulled West Hi within three at 55-52, Williams took over.
While driving to the basket, Williams was fouled. He sank both free throws and then stole the inbounds pass and was fouled again. He converted both to increase the lead to 61-54.
Western Hills had revenge on its mind.
The Mustangs were ranked No. 1 in The Cincinnati Enquirer's Division I poll going into the final week but lost to the Bombers (73-61) to finish the final game to finish second behind Oak Hills.
“They (Western Hills) came out ready to play but our kids responded,” St. X coach Scott Martin said. “Joel Cornette has been our big scorer and he came through again for us tonight.”
Western Hills was hot from then field at the start, sinking five-of-six and held a 24-17 midway through the second quarter.
But, Cornette scored 10 points during a St. X 18-2 run that carried into the third quarter and led to a 35-26 Bomber advantage.
“I missed a lot of shots early but my teammates' confidence in me picked me up,” Cornette said. “If you back down on a game like this, you lose.”
West Hi went on an 8-0 run in the third quarter to pull within one at 39-38 but Williams and Steve Callahan each sank three-pointers to rescue the Bombers.
WESTERN HILLS (60) — McNeal 4 2 10, Horace 7 3 17, Starks 1 0 2, Andrews 2 2 7, Peterson 6 2 14, Clark 1 0 3, Mills 2 0 5, Smith 1 0 2. Totals: 24 9 60.
ST. XAVIER (62) — Cornette 8 2 18, Cronin 4 0 9, Krumdieck 2 0 5, Sollmann 2 0 5, Williams 3 8 16, Larkin 0 3 3, S. Callahan 2 0 6,. Totals: 21 13 62.
Western Hills ....... 14 12 12 22—60
St. Xavier ....... 12 16 17 17—62
Three-point goals: W—Andrews, Clark, Mills. SX—Cronin, Krumdieck, Sollmann, Williams 2, Callahan 2. Records: WH 16-4, SX 15-7.
• Oak Hills 72, Talawanda 50, Oxford Division I at Miami University — Oak Hills struggled early on having not played in two weeks, but the Highlanders turned up their man-to-man defense and forced 18 turnovers in the last three quarters.
While the rest of the Oak Hills team struggled out of the gate, Mike Pettyjohn scored all 15 of his points in the first half to help his team to a 37-23 halftime advantage.
“I think we can go a long way if we put our minds to it, we've been working hard all season,” Pettyjohn said.
Oak Hills will face La Salle for the sectional title Saturday afternoon.
OAK HILLS (72) — Sellet 6 5 17, Djenge 2 0 4, Pettyjohn 6 0 15, Dietrich 5 0 12, Springmyer 0 1 1, Proctor 3 0 6, Eshman 1 0 3, Oliverio 3 2 8, Vogel 2 1 5. Totals: 28 10 72.
TALAWANDA (50) — Bower 5 3 13, Hamidullah 2 1 5, Holmes 3 2 8, Arlinghaus 4 5 15, Jones 1 2 5, McDade 1 0 2, Princell 1 0 2. Totals: 17 13 50.
Oak Hills ....... 18 19 14 21—72
Talawanda ....... 16 7 9 18—50
Three-point field goals: O—Pettyjohn 3, Dietrich 2, Eshman. T—Arlinghaus 2, Jones. Records: O 19-2, T 7-15.
• La Salle 71, Colerain 55, Oxford Division I at Miami University — La Salle broke the game open with a 14-0 run midway through the third quarter. Before the rally Colerain had cut the lead to 44-39. The Lancers built a 58-39 lead and Colerain never recovered.
COLERAIN (55) — Miller 1 2 4, A. Widmer 3 0 7, White 11 5 29, Ferris 4 1 10, Monoghan 1 0 3, Wright 1 0 2. Totals: 21 8 55.
LA SALLE (71) — Hoffman 8 1 17, Esterkamp 9 2 23, Ruberg 0 2 2, Hornbach 4 0 10, Carrelli 1 0 3, Kruthaupt 4 3 11, Phelps 1 0 3, Obert 1 0 2. Totals: 28 8 71.
Colerain ....... 12 20 11 12—55
La Salle ....... 21 19 19 12—71
Three-point field goals: C—A. Widmer, White 2, Ferris, Monoghan. L—Esterkamp 3, Hornbach 2, Carrelli, Phelps. Records: C 10-12, L 13-8.
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