Trotwood junior Darius Dennis was the hero as the Rams prevailed 46-44 in a Division III regional semifinal game at the Cintas Center.
Dennis drove into the lane to his right and appeared to apply a push to Tippecanoe senior Colin Turner defending him. Dennis then spun to his left and put up an acrobatic layup around Tipp senior Bryton Otto that swished through the basket with four seconds remaining.
After several timeouts by both sides, Tipp got an open look from the corner by senior CJ Bailey which would have been for the win but his shot went long as time expired.
“They were bringing it. Coach Brock [Moon] had a great game plan that they came with and we just had to keep fighting,” Trotwood head coach Carl Blanton Jr. said. “We had to put some grit and keep fighting to take that last quarter and that’s what happened.”
Trotwood had hit two free throws in the final 20 seconds of its district title win Saturday against Goshen. Tippecanoe overcame a 19-point deficit to beat La Salle with a furious comeback in the final minutes.
Trotwood will play Badin in a battle of top seeds in the Region 12 final at 3 p.m. Saturday back at the Cintas Center.
Tipp outscored Trotwood in each of the first three quarters Tuesday to lead 39-31 going into the fourth. An 8-0 run closing the third helped stave off Trotwood tying the game four times in the period, but never allowing them to get over the hump.
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
The Rams tied the game again at 44 with 4:50 remaining. Tipp proceeded to have a 90-plus second possession with multiple offensive rebounds but couldn’t find a basket.
Trotwood on its ensuing possession also took the air out of the ball as senior Je’Carious Reaves dribbled around near midcourt for most of the remaining two-plus minutes of the game.
A timeout with 29 seconds left set up a play for Dennis to go one-on-one with his defender. Dennis got the look as it was drawn up, according to Blanton.
“We wanted Darius to attack him at the rim and finish,” he said. “We waited to about eight seconds and said it’s time to go ahead and attack and he did a great job of getting to the basket and making that bucket.”
“I’ll say it. That’s a charge,” Moon said. “We had a charge before the half that they said came after the [horn]. ... That’s a push off on a great defensive possession where a kid steps in front of the kid going to his right hand and takes one right in the chest. That’s a charge.”
Reaves scored 17 points to lead all scorers and Dennis had eight. Tipp had sophomore Hudson Ganger lead the team with 13 points. Bailey, the D-III player of the year in the Southwest District, was held to a season-low three points.
Trotwood upped its aggression driving toward the rim in the fourth quarter while holding Tipp without a point for the final 5:18 of the game.
“We did a pretty good job defensively,” Blanton said. “Still our goal was to put the ball in the basket, so I started telling our guys they had to attack the basket to try and get some fouls and get them in foul trouble and to the free throw line to get us back in the flow of the game.”
Moon said he was surprised Bailey came open on the game’s final play and believed he would draw more attention, but was happy with the shot and told his team to hold their heads high despite the result.
“I don’t think a lot of people thought we beat LaSalle and I’m not sure we thought it there in the third or fourth quarter,” Moon said. “We talked about it leading up to this game, like, no one thinks you guys are gonna win this game. We’re gonna go out and compete as hard as we can. ... I’m proud of the guys and the LaSalle game will still be a memory for a lifetime.”
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