Friday, March 02, 2001
No. 2 West Hi guns for No. 1 Winton Woods
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It's time for the Western Hills basketball team, ranked No.2 in The Enquirer's final Division I boys poll, to make a statement on the court.
At 7 p.m. tonight at Millett Hall in Oxford, the Mustangs (19-3) play Enquirer poll champion Winton Woods (21-0) for the sectional title and a spot in next week's District Tournament at UD Arena.
This early tournament matchup could have been avoided if West Hi coach Lannis Timmons had elected to go into another bracket away from Winton Woods at the tournament drawing three weeks ago.
The first order of business at the drawing is a vote to seed eight teams. In order of the seeds, coaches pick a spot on the bracket. Winton Woods was seeded No.1 with Western Hills No. 4.
Acting on a request from the players, Timmons decided to play in the Oxford sectional upper bracket, forcing the showdown with the coach David Lumpkin's Warriors.
“If I had to do it again, I'd do the same thing,” Timmons said. “I'm not into running my mouth or talking about what an opponent will do. All I want to do is play the game.”
Although Winton Woods has won 21 consecutive games, the Warriors haven't beaten a top 10 team.
“I honestly believe that teams jumped in with us because of our schedule and felt it was an easy way out,” Lumpkin said. “At the same time, West Hi hasn't had much success against Elder or St. X and I understand why.”
Both teams are quick, strong on the inside and have three major college prospects. The supporting casts also are similar as both coaches go eight deep.
If Western Hills has an advantage, it's on the inside with Miami-bound Danny Horace (6-foot-6, 230 pounds), future Akron guard Darryl Peterson (6-6, 200 pounds) and Phil Smith (6-6, 210 pounds).
West High's starting point guard Malcolm Andrews will attend Wright State next fall.
Winton Woods juniors Robert Hite and DeForrest Riley and senior P.J. Mills are expected to sign with major colleges.
Although Winton Woods appears to matchup well at all positions, the Warriors lack bulk underneath except for Mills, a 6-7, 210-pound senior.
The other starters, Hite (6-2, 175 pounds), C. J. Anderson (6-4, 175), Riley (6-5, 190 pounds) and Byron Fields (6-2, 165 pounds) could be outmuscled by the stronger Mustangs.
“Rebounding will be one of the big keys,” Lumpkin said. “We are a decent rebounding team but much better late in the season. We'll have to put a body on some folks to win.”
Winton Woods is the better outside-shooting team as Riley (14 ppg), Hite (16 ppg) and Anderson (9 ppg) are solid 3-point shooters.
“Princeton played well off Winton Woods on defense and they buried the 3-pointers,” Timmons said. “We'll go straight man-to-man and get in their face.”
Peterson (18 ppg) and Andrews (8 ppg) are the Mustangs' outside threats but neither has been consistent throughout the season. As a result, most teams go with a variety of zones. Horace is the leading scorer at 21.9.
“We're primarily a man-to-man team but we have played some zone,” Lumpkin said. “Elder used a sagging man-to-man against Western Hills and it was very effective.”
Elder is the only Cincinnati team to defeat the Mustangs with the other two losses to out-of-state teams during a Holiday Tournament.
As for quickness, both Timmons and Lumpkin agree it's a tossup.
Timmons was impressed with Winton Woods against Princeton in the sectional semifinals on Monday.
“I saw a well-coached team that is hungry, plays well together and run good patterns and sets,” Timmons said. “The players seem to like each other, accept their roles and are out there for the same reason.”
A lack of teamwork led to the Mustangs downfall last season, but Timmons promised this hasn't been a problem.
“We've stressed that no one can worry about points or playing time,” Timmons said. “All we have to do is execute and play as a team and we'll be all right.”
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No. 2 West Hi guns for No. 1 Winton Woods
