“We’re right there,” first-year Middies coach Darnell Hoskins said. “I know the system’s working. We’ve just got to find a way to get over the hump and win those close ones. More than physically, I think it’s mental preparation on our kids’ parts.
“I’m not overly excited about it. I won’t whoop and holler and rant and rave about it, but we’ve got to fix it. I’ve always said the teams that I coach aren’t going to be great in December or maybe even January, but February is when all the marbles are rolled out, and we’ll be ready then.
“You’ve got to give Lima a ton of credit. They fought and persevered. Their players stepped up and made plays when they needed to.”
Middletown roared to a 17-5 advantage in the opening seven minutes and led most of the night, yet the visitors were stung by several critical mistakes at crunch time.
The Middies missed three foul shots and committed three turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Spartans misfired twice on the front end of the bonus in the last 21.3 seconds, but the shooter got his own rebound both times.
A desperation heave by Middletown’s Cliff Snow from beyond halfcourt was well off the mark as the game ended.
“Tough loss, man,” said Middies senior guard Nelson Rutledge, who poured in a career-high 22 points. “We’ve just got to get mentally tough and play as a team. We aren’t all on the same page right now. We’re going to be all right, though. We’re going to pull through it.”
Jomar Bailey had 10 points and six rebounds for Middletown. Snow, the leading scorer in the Greater Miami Conference, was held to nine points and seven boards.
Jarius Ward fired in 31 points to lead Lima (4-2), last year’s Division I state runner-up to Westerville South.
“This was one that probably was going to come down to the wire,” Spartans coach Quincey Simpson said. “Great team, Middletown. Got a couple good kids that can flat-out play. It was going to be one of those games where we had to give everything we had, and fortunately my guys accepted that challenge.”
The Middies’ zone defense was effective against everybody but Ward. The 6-foot-2 senior guard made a trio of 3-pointers and drove to the basket seemingly whenever he wanted to.
“He didn’t settle (for perimeter shots),” Hoskins said. “That’s what great players do.”
Simpson praised Ward’s play at both ends of the floor. He spent much of the evening guarding Snow, who brought a 23.5 scoring average into the contest.
Dre Williams collected eight points and seven rebounds for the Spartans. Marquis Coleman added seven points and six boards.
Coleman grabbed his own rebound off a missed free throw with 5.0 seconds remaining. Teammate Jaleel Long did the same thing with 21.3 on the clock.
“On those rebounds, nobody wanted it,” said Rutledge, shaking his head. “They wanted it more than we did.”
“We can’t have those type of mental breakdowns and expect to beat good teams,” Hoskins said. “We’ve got to be better and tougher on the backboards. I thought going into the year that would be an advantage of ours.”
Rutledge, in his second season with the Middies after transferring from Trotwood-Madison, erupted for 10 points in the opening quarter. He was in perpetual motion and got to the rim with a purpose.
“My role on this team is to bring toughness and get everybody on the same page and get to the free-throw line as much as possible,” Rutledge said. “I don’t think I did a good job of getting to the free-throw line tonight (he was 0 of 1).”
“(Rutledge) played with a lot of moxie,” Hoskins said. “He played on both ends as tough as we want him to. We just unfortunately didn’t have three or four other guys to go with him at times. It was sporadic. We’ve got to have five guys working in unison. You could argue Snow, but we don’t have a bona fide superstar on this team. We’re a team that’s the sum of our parts. If all of our parts aren’t clicking, we’re going to have a tough time winning.”
The Spartans aren’t at full strength. Indeed, they’re missing six players — two are transfers and four are injured.
“We haven’t had a complete roster yet this year, and we don’t know if we will,” Simpson said. “We just try to go with the guys that we have. Next man up … that’s how we look at it. We expect these guys to play hard when their name is called, and tonight demonstrated that.”
According to Lima historian Tim Ludwig, it was the 97th meeting in the series that started in 1955-56, but the first since Middletown won 47-46 in 2006-07. The Middies hold a 63-34 edge in the rivalry.
Both teams will return to action Tuesday. Middletown will host Fairfield, while the Spartans face visiting Fremont Ross.
Middletown 17-12-17-8—54
Lima Senior 7-21-15-13—56
MIDDLETOWN (2-3): Nelson Rutledge 11 0 22, Keion Williams 1 0 2, Cliff Snow 3 2 9, Christian Strother 2 3 7, Jawunn Bailey 1 0 2, Jomar Bailey 5 0 10, Chris Stallworth 1 0 2. Totals: 24-5-54
LIMA SENIOR (4-2): Jarius Ward 12 4 31, Jaleel Long 2 0 4, Jaleel King 2 0 4, Dre Williams 2 4 8, Amihr Curtis 1 0 2, Marquis Coleman 2 2 7. Totals: 21-10-56
3-pointers: M 1 (Snow), L 4 (Ward 3, Coleman)
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