No. 5 Bellbrook outlasted No. 10 Belmont with a 64-59 win in a Division III district first round game on Friday night at Centerville High School.
Belmont reduced its deficit to two in the final minute of the fourth quarter on a four-point play. Bison freshman Jamauri Benson hit a 3-pointer and senior Jamauri Holloway was fouled away from the play. He made the first of two free throws but missed on the second.
After freshman Jack Howard made a pair of free throws for Bellbrook, senior Iverson Scott connected on an off-balance three from the wing to get Belmont back within one with 20 seconds to play.
Bellbrook senior David Gregory came up big with two more free throws and Belmont’s last effort to tie the game with a three came up empty.
“I felt defensively we were doing all the right things, they were just making super tough shots,” said Bellbrook head coach Donnie Tate. “They just had an answer every time I thought we were going to extend our lead.”
Bellbrook (16-7) built a 31-23 halftime lead thanks in part from consecutive threes drained by Gregory midway through the second quarter. He scored a game-high 23 points and hit five threes.
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
While the Golden Eagles made seven shots from beyond the arc in the game, they lived at the foul line for most of the night. Bellbrook converted 27 of its 33 free throw attempts, including Howard making six in the fourth quarter while going 12-for-12 in the game.
“I thought there were segments of the game where we took too many threes and we weren’t being aggressive because we want to attack the rim and finish when we get there,” Tate said. “That’s credit to their defense and the intensity that they played with not allowing us to get to the paint. We still got to be more stubborn. When we were we were getting those fouls and getting to the free throw line.”
Belmont (10-11) twice tied the game in the third quarter but never led. The Bisons were led by 19 points by Scott. Senior Douglas Barnes scored 15 points and Benson had 13.
Howard had 18 and senior Cameron Reagan added 12 for Bellbrook.
Chaminade Julienne pulls away from Butler
Once senior Deng Majack started driving downhill against the Butler defense, there was no stopping him.
And when he kept making threes from the outside, there was no stopping CJ.
No. 8 CJ played one of its best halves of the season in the second half to take down No. 3 Butler 71-58 in the second game at Centerville.
CJ (11-12) advanced to face Bellbrook at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in a D-III district final game at Centerville.
Majack scored 16 of his 27 points against Butler in the second half. He had all eight of his free throw attempts, making six, come after halftime as he continually was set up in one-on-one situations to drive toward the basket.
“He’s maybe one of the most improved players we’ve ever had come through this program,” CJ head coach Charlie Szabo said. “He’s starting to feel confident and he’s starting to believe in himself and putting together a string of really good games.”
He also made three of CJ’s six shots from beyond the arc to draw away the Butler defense and help his team score a combined 44 points in the third and fourth quarters after trailing by one at halftime.
“He was unconscious,” Butler head coach Andy Holderman said. “Probably the best guard we’ve seen this year. As far as one night of actually playing, I don’t know what it’s like on a normal night but he was a pretty good player tonight.”
CJ (11-12) got another 14 points by junior Reco Vaughn and 10 from senior Caden Hatcher.
The Eagles and Aviators traded leads for most of the first half. CJ came out of the locker room more aggressive on offense while finding its shooting touch, scoring the first six points of the half.
Butler tried to keep pace and only trailed by three late in the third quarter, but a pair of free throw makes by Majack in the final seconds of the period were followed by Vaughn burying a three at the buzzer to extend their lead to 49-38.
Szabo said he wanted to stress to his team at halftime about staying tough and needing to put together a full 32 minutes for what he felt would be the first time all season to prevail.
“That’s probably the best half of the basketball we’ve played and you know, I think when you hit shots and we got a few to go in, we got a couple easy buckets early and really buckled down on the defensive end doing our game plan,” he said.
All four Butler seniors scored in double figures. Julius Rusk led the way with 15, Charlie Neely had 13, Toby Moore Jr. had 12 and Troy Fletcher added 10. The Aviators finished the season 15-8.
“We tell them you just want to leave this place and the program better than what it is when you got there,” Holderman said. “And now it’s time for our juniors to build on that and get us ready for next year.”
About the Author
