“I was jumping around, probably celebrating more than the kids were,” said Woods, in his fourth year at the CCS helm. “It’s an undescribable feeling. That’s the only way to say it.”
Christian Keese (15), Dylan Woods (14) and Daniel Nimmo (11) were the top point men for the Cougars, who survived a back-and-forth affair that included nine lead changes.
Cincinnati Christian erased a 47-45 deficit with a 9-2 surge in the last three-plus minutes, sinking 9 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter. The Trojans’ Charlie Bertemes threw in a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
“It’s a great feeling to finally break through and bring that banner and championship home to CCS,” said Dylan Woods, a senior guard. “I’m very excited for regionals.”
“I had faith in our team,” said Nimmo, a senior forward. “We’ve come back from adversity a lot this year. When we looked up and saw like a six-point deficit, I wasn’t shaking because I know we have a lot of talent and we’re like brothers.”
The Cougars (21-5) lost to Jackson Center in their previous two district appearances in 2013 and 2016. Now Cincinnati Christian is headed for a regional semifinal against New Madison Tri-Village (19-7) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at Fairmont’s Trent Arena.
“It just feels good because last year we came up short,” said Keese, a senior forward. “One of our goals was to come back here and finish the job from last year. (Southeastern) gave a good fight, and that’s what we were expecting. When it’s anyone’s game, you’ve got to step up and make a play and just hope for the best.”
It was a difficult finish for the Trojans (24-2), who captured a district crown last season.
CCS collected 23 points off 19 turnovers by Southeastern.
“We turned the ball over a little much,” Trojans coach Brian Hecker said. “Down the stretch we got sped up a little too much and turned it over and missed some shots that I think we could’ve made. That’s kind of how it works in these types of games.
“They started doubling the basketball, and we talked about it and worked on it, but it’s hard to show that type of pressure and activity in practice. You’re not going to win a district final with 19 turnovers.”
Trevor King paced Southeastern with 19 points, while Andrew Lyons totaled 17 points and 11 rebounds. Colton Spears is the Trojans’ other offensive leader, but he was limited to three free throws by a Cincinnati Christian defensive effort that included a strong performance by Elijah Taylor.
“I didn’t realize he didn’t score a bucket. That’s shocking,” Carl Woods said. “We knew they had a three-headed monster. We wanted to keep pressure on those guys and make them work every minute. We felt that if we could get to the second half, they would get tired. That up-and-down pace can do that to you.”
The Cougars led at all three quarter stops (15-12, 26-24, 43-39), yet trailed by as many as seven points (34-27) in the third period. They responded with a 14-3 spurt, sparked by Woods’ seven points.
Cincinnati Christian took the lead for good (48-47) on Keese’s two foul shots with 2:06 remaining. It was still a one-point game when Brady Roberts hit a pair of free throws with 41.1 on the clock, pushing the margin to 52-49. Keese broke free for a clinching layup — the Cougars’ only field goal in the fourth stanza — with 14.3 seconds left.
“We noticed that they were starting to get a little shaky about their decisions in the fourth quarter, so we decided to go ahead and pressure them and try to force turnovers,” Dylan Woods said. “We just needed to stay composed. I saw guys starting to get rattled, and I knew we just needed to calm down and play our game and we’d be fine.”
Nimmo hauled in seven rebounds and Keese added six for CCS. Roberts dished out four assists.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Carl Woods said. “We knew what they were capable of. They slash well, and they want to transition just as well as we do. Basketball’s a game of runs. When they got down, they didn’t stop fighting. When we got down, we didn’t stop fighting. We just had a little more fight in the end.”
Woods had special praise for Nimmo, who tallied all 11 of his points and five of his boards after halftime.
“He’s our utility man. Nathan Grammel was our utility man last year,” Woods said. “Daniel can play so many different roles for us. For him to be 6-foot, maybe 6-1 tops, he’s strong and can go down low and bang and battle, and he can score. When people think they can key on Dylan and Brady and some of those other guys, Daniel will light you up. And that’s what happened. We had another senior step up.”
Nimmo didn’t play in last Saturday’s sectional final against Georgetown because of the flu. He wasn’t even able to attend the game.
“We knew who we were facing in the sectional. I didn’t doubt anything,” Nimmo said. “I just had to get healthy for this game.”
He’s coming off the bench and has no problem with that role. Nimmo likes to provide a spark when he hits the floor, though his second-half explosion was a bit surprising.
“I wasn’t thinking about it,” Nimmo said. “I was just thinking we had to get every 50-50 ball. We all had to fight. We all took it up a notch in the second half.”
And the feeling when it was over?
“Fun. Crazy. It was an awe moment,” he said.
In Friday’s other district finals at UD Arena, Tri-Village beat Jackson Center 38-33 in overtime and Fort Loramie buried Lockland 68-42. Loramie will meet Lima Perry in Tuesday’s first regional semifinal at 5:30 p.m.
Cincinnati Christian 15-11-17-11—54
Southeastern 12-12-15-13—52
CINCINNATI CHRISTIAN (21-5): Josh Oates 2 2 6, Dylan Woods 5 2 14, Elijah Taylor 1 1 4, Christian Keese 6 3 15, Brady Roberts 0 2 2, Daniel Nimmo 4 2 11, Cameron Rogers 1 0 2. Totals: 19-12-54
SOUTH CHARLESTON SOUTHEASTERN (24-2): Charlie Bertemes 2 2 7, Colton Spears 0 3 3, Trevor King 6 4 19, Andrew Lyons 4 9 17, Chase Billet 3 0 6. Totals: 15-18-52
3-pointers: C 4 (Woods 2, Taylor, Nimmo), S 4 (King 3, Bertemes)
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