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Home > Blogs > Springfield, Ohio High School Sports > Archives > 2009 > March > 12 > Entry
On this date in area sports history …
Thirteen years ago on this date, March 12, 1996, the Catholic Central and Southeastern boys basketball teams won district championships to set up a regional semifinal showdown. Complete stories on the jump.
CATHOLIC CENTRAL, SOUTHEASTERN BOYS SET UP REGIONAL SHOWDOWN
COLLIER CARRIES SHAKY IRISH
Stories by Matt Thompson, News-Sun Sports Writer
DAYTON — Jason Collier made it about as far as the showers before his legs gave out.
The nerves he had so casually shrugged off in the game’s closing seconds kicked in big-time, and his suddenly-shaky legs wouldn’t work so well.
“I just couldn’t stand up,” said the Catholic Central senior. “I needed to borrow a chair so I could sit in the shower.”
Please, give the man a chair. After the finish he put on in a wild one against Cincinnati Madeira on Tuesday, give him anything he wants.
Collier’s free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining provided the Irish a four-point cushion, rendering the three-pointer Madeira nailed at the buzzer academic as Central barely escaped University of Dayton Arena with a 39-38 regional semifinal victory.
The Irish advance to face Clark County neighbors Southeastern, a 63-61 winner over Anna, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at UD Arena.
“Right now it’s just relief,” said an exhausted Collier, asked whether he felt more relief or happiness. “There’s so much pressure. There’s just so many more expectations on this team.”
Madeira (22-3) and Central (21-3) played each other nearly to standstill on a night when the defense was flying so fast and furious even sharpshooting point guard Jason Ronai was held without a field goal. Collier, who ended up with a game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds, was the lone Central starter to hit a field goal.
Still, for a game with very little offense, however, the game packed a tremendous amount of drama … most contained in the final minutes. Central entered the fourth quarter with a fairly-comfortable lead of 11. But Madeira led off the period with a 16-4 run that left Central playing catchup, down 35-34, for the first time all game.
That’s when things got interesting:
n Central kept Madeira in the thick of things with some poor foul shooting, as the Irish hit just 3 of 9 down the stretch before Collier’s last-second heroics.
n With less than 25 seconds left and Central sporting a two-point lead, Collier surprised everyone by going for a wild steal, taking a mad dash at widebody Jay Newberry. Collier over-committed, falling off the play and leaving a stunned Newberry completely unguarded some 20 feet from the basket.
Then Newberry stunned everyone else, gunning for a trey — his first three-point attempt of the season — instead of taking it to the hole.
His attempt went horribly off the mark, and Central got the ball back.
n Just a few seconds later, after Central’s Tyson Yirak missed a pair of free throws, Mustang guard Aaron Mackris gathered in the rebound only to find himself surrounded by Irish. He fell to the floor, where he was whistled a few seconds later for traveling. Collier was fouled on the resulting inbounds, and made the throws to ultimately win the contest.
CATHOLIC CENTRAL (39) — Yirak 0-3 0-0 0, Silvers 0-0 0-0 0, Collier 9-16 5-8 25, Ronai 0-3 4-4 4, Hannon 0-3 1-2 1, Talbott 1-4 0-0 2, Powell 3-9 1-2 7. Totals 13-38 11-19 39.
CINCINNATI MADEIRA (38) — Myers 4-15 0-0 8, Marsh 1-6 0-0 2, Ja. Newberry 5-13 2-4 12 Mackris 3-4 0-0 7, Stork 1-3 0-0 3, Fields 2-5 0-0 6, Jo. Newberry 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-47 2-4 38.
Catholic Central 7 22 30 39
Cincinnati Madeira 6 12 19 38
Three-point goals: Central 2-12 (Collier 2-4, Ronai 0-3, Hannon 0-2, Powell 0-3), Madeira 4-12 (Fields 2-5, Stork 1-1, Mackris 1-2, Na. Newberry 0-1, Myers 0-1, Marsh 0-2). Total Fouls: Central 11, Madeira 17. Turnovers: Central 14, Madeira 14. Rebounds: Central 32 (Collier 12), Madeira 31 (Ja. Newberry 12).
DONALDSON COMES TO THE TROJANS’ RESCUE ONCE AGAIN
DAYTON — After two straight games, he’s kind of starting to expect it.
“Before the game I thought it would come down to free throws,” Southeastern’s Casey Donaldson said. “And I figured I’d probably be at the line.”
So Donaldson has added the title of prophet to his prior moniker of late-game hero, as it did indeed come down to free throws in the closing seconds of Southeastern’s regional semifinal game against Anna on Tuesday.
And, as he has for two consecutive tournament games, Donaldson canned them both, handing his team a 63-61 victory that puts them in the regional finals against Catholic Central at 7:30 p.m. Friday at University of Dayton Arena.
Donaldson’s free throws provided the difference in a 47-45 district final win over Fort Loramie and a 65-63 double-overtime sectional final victory over Dayton Jefferson.
So this time, it was no big deal.
“I just love to win the games,” said Donaldson, who had hit just four of 10 free throws when he stepped to the line with a tie score and 13 seconds left. “I was struggling a bit (at the line) tonight. But I was just thinking `I can win the game (for us) again.’ ”
Mike Ferguson made sure the two-point margin Donaldson gave the Trojans stood up. With five seconds remaining, Ferguson reached in and stole an inbounds pass from Anna’s David Hurley.
“We knew they were going to Hurley,” said Ferguson, who led the Trojans with 22 points. “He made a drive to his right, I stepped up and just put my hand out and took the ball.”
Ferguson passed the ball away, Anna couldn’t foul and the clock ran out on the Rockets, 20-5.
“Our defense let us down,” said Anna Coach Matt Meyer. “You have to give (Trojan Coach James) Justice credit. Everything we did to slow them down — not even to stop them — they countered immediately.”
It was something of a barn-burner, with neither team managing a lead of more than four points all night long. The lead changed hands 22 times before Donaldson’s free throws ended the scoring.
Southeastern and Anna tied each other at the end of the first half (32-32) and the end of the third quarter (46-46) before hitting the stretch run.
Hurley, who hit 10 of 13 shots, led all scorers with 25 points. For the Trojans, Donaldson managed a double-double, 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“Ferguson had more points but Donaldson created,” said Meyer. “We just couldn’t handle him.”
Donaldson also scored the last Trojan field goal, a rim-jarring dunk that sent the Southeastern fans into a frenzy. But it was his free throws that again told the tale … delivered facing a friendly sea of red and gray.
“That helped,” Donaldson said. “It helped give me a little confidence.”
ANNA (61) — Cathcart 6-12 3-6 16, Barhorst 1-11 2-2 4, Hurley 10-13 1-1 25, Berner 1-3 0-0 2, Zimpfer 3-7 2-4 10, Wenning 1-5 2-4 4. Totals 22-51 10-17 61.
SOUTHEASTERN (63) — Ferguson 8-14 6-8 22, Donaldson 6-14 6-12 18, Kitchen 0-0 6-6 6, Rice 1-5 0-0 2, Billet 2-4 0-0 5, Gaston 1-2 0-0 2, Hootman 3-6 0-0 8. Totals 21-45 18-26 63.
Anna13 32 46 61
Southeastern11 32 46 63
Three-point goals: Anna 7-12 (Hurley 4-5, Zimpfer 2-3, Cathcart 1-1 Barhorst 0-1, Berner 0-2), Southeastern 3-9 (Hootman 2-3, Billet 1-1, Gaston 0-1, Donaldson 0-2, Rice 0-2). Total Fouls: Anna 19, Southeastern 15. Turnovers: Anna 13, Southeastern 12. Rebounds: Anna 28 (Barhorst 8, Hurley 8), Southeastern 31 (Donaldson 10).
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