Friday, March 23, 2001
Ohio boys state tournament roundup
Mr. Basketball lives up to expectations
By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer
Super sophomore LeBron James dunks for two of his 29 points.
(AP photo)
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mighty Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary — as expected — moved on to the Division III championship game.
But the Fighting Irish are well aware that it's never easy to be the hunted instead of the hunter.
“I told our kids tonight they should say a little prayer, because those guys played hard,” SVSM coach Keith Dambrot said after the No. 1-ranked Division III team in the state edged Haviland Wayne Trace 56-50 in the state semifinals.
As expected, super sophomore LeBron James was at his best. He scored 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting and wowed the crowd with a variety of slashing moves to the hoop and thundering dunks.
“I've coached for 31 years and I've never coached against an athlete like that,” Wayne Trace coach Al Welch said.
Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien, North Carolina's Matt Doherty and Cal's Ben Braun were among the big-name, big-game coaches in the crowd at Value City Arena. And they can't sign him for another 18 months — and that's if the 6-foot-6 1/2 sophomore doesn't decide to go directly to the NBA.
This week he's won several honors, including the Ohio Associated Press' Mr. Basketball award.
“I'm honored to win the awards, but this is the same as last year. I have the same goal — to win the state championship and to put another banner in the gym,” James said.
The Fighting Irish (25-1), the defending state champs and top-ranked team in the final regular-season poll for the second year in a row, advance to meet Casstown Miami East in Saturday's Division III state championship game. Miami East edged Belpre, 61-57, in overtime in the first semifinal.
In Thursday's Division II games, Adam Waleskowski scored 19 points and had 13 rebounds as Kettering Alter dominated from the outset to beat Columbus East 53-35. In the nightcap, J.K. Brooks and Brian Swift each scored 19 points and shared the load in the final minutes as defending champion Warrensville Heights topped Willard 70-66.
Wayne Trace (24-2), ranked seventh in the final poll, didn't back down from St. Vincent-St. Mary. The Raiders trailed by two points and briefly had the ball with less than 25 seconds left. But Dru Joyce and John Taylor sealed the outcome with free throws for the Irish, ranked fourth in the USA Today national poll.
In the first Division III semi, Nathan Chivington scored six points in overtime, including two free throws with 7.3 seconds left as Casstown Miami East came back to beat Belpre.
Chivington, who finished with seven points, also assisted on a key overtime basket and had eight assists and six rebounds for the Vikings (25-2).
Chivington had the ball but failed to get off a shot in the final seconds of regulation, but he made up for it in the overtime.
Belpre's Pat Klein banked in a 3-pointer with 11.1 seconds remaining in the overtime to cut Miami East's lead to 58-57, but Chivington coolly hit both foul shots with 7.3 seconds left.
Travis Mumma, a first-team All-Ohioan, led the winners with 16 points — seven under his average.
“Ever since we were little, we dreamed about getting to this game,” said Kenny Sandlin, who added 12 points. “We really didn't want to go home after losing the first game. It's the most exciting thing I've ever done.”
Nick Morey scored 20 points for Belpre (23-4).
Kettering Alter's Waleskowski, a first-team Associated Press All-Ohioan and Florida State signee, hit 9-of-14 shots from the field for the Knights (24-2) in their win over Columbus East (16-9).
East scored the fewest points in any state tournament game regardless of division since it beat Marion Harding 41-32 in a 1963 Class AA championship game.
Fourth-ranked Alter, which never trailed after the opening minutes, will be seeking its third state title, having won championships in 1978 and 1999. The Knights are coached by Joe Petrocelli, who is 659-196 in 37 years with the team.
Willard's losing streak at the state's final four continued against defending champion Warrensville Heights (25-1) in the Division II nightcap. In four trips to the semifinals, the Crimson Flashes have never won.
Down 59-58, Warrensville Heights' Brooks hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 4:34 left and the Tigers never trailed again. After Nick Dials, who led Willard (24-2) with 29 points, missed on a shot behind the arc, Swift hit an 18-footer from the left wing for a 63-59 lead.
Derek Fey, who scored 17 points for the Flashes, answered with a 3-pointer with 3:32 left that cut the lead to a point. But Swift drove the lane and hit a shot in traffic to make it 65-62.
A Fey layup again narrowed the gap to one, but Brooks banked in a 12-footer, and Lee Johnson's nifty assist to Demetrius Johnson for a layup made it 69-64 at the one-minute mark.
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Ohio boys state tournament roundup
