Moss attributed Middletown’s resolve to the battles the team learned from during the regular season. The Middies (11-13) had an up-and-down season, opening 7-5 before an eight-game losing streak, which they snapped with an overtime win against Lakota West to begin what now is a four-game winning streak.
“We are the one of the toughest leagues in the state, and we’ve been battle tested all year,” said Moss, who got the shirt idea from his assistant. “So, we kept our composure. We’ve lost a lot of games this year because of our mindset and folding under pressure. We’re experienced in that. We’ve been there so they were ready. They never were going falter and the whole game they believe that they could win.”
After the Middies extended their lead to 28-20 lead in the second quarter, Loveland (16-8) went on a 6-0 run to make it a two-point game, but Tywan Hall ended a three-minute scoring drought for Middletown with 55 seconds left and ignited the crowd the next time down the floor with a fastbreak dunk.
The officials called a technical for hanging on the rim, though, as Hall protested he was trying to avoid a Loveland player he would have landed on under the basket. Loveland’s Jack Sauer made just one of the free throws though and Middletown got the ball back for a buzzer-beating putback to make it a 34-27 advantage going into halftime.
Once again Loveland whittled away at the Middies’ lead with five quick points to open the third quarter but Middletown responded with a 10-1 run to end the period and the game was never in question again. The Middies had opened the playoffs with an 86-84 win over St. Xavier to avenge an overtime loss from January, and Hall said that game gave them more confidence going into Tuesday.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“The St. X game was basically letting everybody know that we can compete with the top teams around here,” Hall said. “So yeah, that was a really huge win for us. We came into this game like if we can beat them, we can beat anybody. It was a real good win tonight. We just stuck to the plan and went out and executed like we were supposed to.”
The Middies led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter and finished the game at the free-throw line. They had shot 57.7 percent in the first half and made just 6 of 16 shots from the field (37.5 percent) in the second half.
“We had to make some adjustments offensively,” Moss said. “We wanted to spread them out and then make them guard us off the bounce. We saw earlier that we weren’t making the same shots we were making the first half, so it wasn’t just pealing it back and making them guard.”
Loveland struggled with Middletown’s pace and defensive pressure, especially in the first half when 10 of 18 turnovers occurred. The Middies scored 20 points off turnovers and they had nine steals. Moss had watched every game the Tigers played against athletic teams and saw how they struggled under pressure. Middletown attacked their zone with quick passing and wore them down in the end.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Hall finished with a team-high 14 points and four steals, Kellen Davis added 10 points, and Malachi Parker added nine points and two steals. Vinny McCord collected three steals.
“They’re a very good, athletic, quick team and they make it really hard to run offense because they’re coming at you and they’re doubling you and trapping you and we didn’t respond to that as well as I would like to,” Loveland coach Rob Reis said. “We were down seven at the half and then had a quick little run to get them to two and we had a 3 rim in and out, and quite honestly, we just kind of ran out of gas and that’s what they do to you. And that’s what they did to St. X in the last game, it’s what they didn’t to us tonight. They’re just hard to keep up with, up and down the floor and we’re not the deepest team so it just kind of wore us out. They did very well.”
Loveland, which rostered just two seniors, won 16 games for the first time since 2008-09.
Middletown advances to face No. 2-seeded Sycamore (18-2) in the sectional final Friday at West. The Aves swept the Middies in two meetings during the regular season.
“I tell people all the time how we’re playing now is how we played in the fall, and then we kind of had a let-down during the season, and now we are getting it,” Moss said. “We’re playing together, we’re moving the basketball, we’re sharing, and that’s what I want to see the Middies do. As long as we compete and play the right way, I’m going to live with the results.
“Sycamore is a great team, well-coached. It’s gonna be a tall task, but I got the guys in the locker room that believe. So we’re just going to prepare the next two days and see what the outcome will be on Friday.”
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