Saturday, March 06, 1999
Princeton can't stop Springfield guards
Fairfield beats Hamilton in overtime
BY DAVE SCHUTTE
Enquirer contributor
FAIRBORN — Balanced scoring, good offensive rebounding and superior quickness paved the way for Springfield South's 59-57 victory over Princeton in the Division I boys basketball district championship game at Wright State University's Nutter Center on Friday night.
Princeton's inability to contain Wildcat guards Mike Richardson, James Copeland and Thomas Stephens proved to be the difference. The trio combined for 38 points.
A defensive change also helped South.
“When we went to the 1-3-1 zone in the fourth quarter, it forced several turnovers,” South coach Greg Richards said.
Princeton coach Paul Andrews agreed.
“We made adjustments in the huddle during a timeout but not on the court,” Andrews said.
The Wildcats scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take a 49-41 advantage. But, Princeton fought back to 57-55 with 40.1 seconds remaining.
Larry Brown, Mario Grove, Erick Daniels and Michael Garner scored during the run but a dunk by South's Robert Johnson with 25.7 seconds remaining proved to be the winning points.
Brown scored with 3.2 seconds left for the final margin.
Princeton led only three times in the game. The Vikings fell behind 9-0 but rallied behind Daniels for a 16-15 lead early in the second quarter. They also were in the lead at 25-24 and 39-38 with 3:37 left in the third quarter.
“Truthfully, I thought we could win tonight,” Andrews said. “I also thought we would win 15 or 16 games this season but it didn't work out.”
Princeton finished 12-10.
Princeton's turnovers (15) and South's offensive rebounding (19) were too much to overcome.
South advances to next week's district championship game at the University of Dayton Arena.
PRINCETON (57) — Daniels 6-10 5-8 20, Garner 2-4 0-0 4, Grove 1-3 0-1 2, Cross 4-12 0-0 9, White 1-6 0-0 2, Ben 1-1 0-0 2, Brown 6-12 1-2 13, Lewis 0-1 0-0 0, Rinck 0-0 0-0 0, Southall 2-5 1-3 5. Totals: 23-54 7-14 57.
SPRINGFIELD SOUTH (59) — Copeland 5-12 1-2 13, Johnson 3-12 0-2 6, Wilborn 3-7 0-2 6, Richardson 5-13 0-0 11, Stephens 7-15 0-0 14, Moss 1-1 0-0 3, Yates 2-3 0-0 4, Bray 0-3 2-2 2. Totals: 26-66 3-8 59.
Princeton ....... 14 18 9 16—57
Springfield South ....... 15 19 10 15—59
Three-point field goals: P (4-12) Daniels 3, Cross, SS (4-17) Copeland 2, Richardson, Moss. Rebounds: P (39) — Daniels 12, SS (37) — Johnson 13, Copeland 7. Assists: P (10) Cross 3, SS (12) Copeland 3, Stephens 3. Turnovers: P (15), SS (8). Records: P 12-10, SS 20-3. Attendance: 2,000 (est).
• Fairfield 57, Hamilton 49 (OT) — Ten consecutive free throws by Fairfield senior Adam Klotzbach in overtime lifted Fairfield.
“I felt relaxed and blocked everything out,” Klotzbach said. “I thought about the thousands of free throws I've shot after practice everyday and tonight it paid off.”
In the overtime, Hamilton took a 48-46 lead on a field goal by Andy Mignery but Klotzbach responded with two free throws and added two more after Hamilton's Derek Benson sank 1-of-2 for 50-49 lead.
A technical foul was called against Hamilton with 47.3 seconds remaining.
Hamilton appeared to have the game under control, leading 30-19 at halftime. But Fairfield went on a 10-0 run to open the third quarter.
“We went back up by seven and then missed some free throws,” Hamilton coach Larry Allen said. “On four or five occasions, we had good shots but they wouldn't fall.”
Fairfield tied the game at 46 with 1:15 remaining on a short jump shot by Adam Ward. Neither team scored the remainder of regulation.
“We approached the second half like the score was 0-0,” Klotzbach said. “We could have quit and got discouraged but we kept hustling and got back into it.”
Coach Dave Bauer felt Fairfield's ability to remain close was one of the keys in the outcome.
“If you let a team hang around, bad thing happen,” Bauer said. “They were never able to put us away and we ended up winning.”
Fairfield advances to next week's district tournament at the University of Dayton arena against the winner of today's Cincinnati sectional championship game between Withrow and Sycamore.
HAMILTON (49) — Morris 4-11 0-0 10, Huff 3-6 2-6 8, Moore 1-1 0-0 2, Kuhlman 2-3 2-5 8, Benson 4-15 4-7 13, Whitehead 0-1 0-0 0, Sturgill 0-1 0-0 0, Mignery 2-5 0-2 4, Rollison 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 18-46 8-20 49.
FAIRFIELD (57) — Compton 4-10 2-4 12, Ward 7-16 3-9 17, Graman 0-0 5-6 5, Andrews 0-4 0-0 0, Klotzbach 1-9 14-14 17, Adames 1-4 1-2 3, Pogozalski 0-1 0-0 0, Long 1-2 1-5 3. Totals: 14-46 26-40 57.
Hamilton ....... 16 14 7 9 3—49
Fairfield ....... 8 11 15 12 11—57
Three-point field goals: H—Morris 2, Kuhlman 2, Benson. F—Compton 2, Klotzbach. Assists: H (10) Kuhlman 4. F (9) Klotzbach 4. Rebounds: H 35) Benson 8, Gardner 6. F (40) Ward 11, Klotzbach 8. Turnovers: H 16, F 14. Officials: Terry Middleton, Doug Harmon, Mike Hopkins. Records: H 11-11, FF 13-9.
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