“We’ve been trying to upgrade (our schedule) year after year,” he said. “We’re not afraid to play anybody.”
His team backed up those words Tuesday on the road at Beavercreek.
After overcoming multiple deficits in the second half, the resilient Eagles prevailed 54-53 thanks to a blocked shot by senior Riston Thomas in the final seconds.
A new look Beavers team replacing multiple starters from last year’s district champion group continually put Troy Christian’s experience to the test. The Eagles (2-0) had issues getting good looks at the basket for most of the game. They went more than five minutes without a basket, after taking a four-point lead without a basket in the second half as Beavercreek went up 40-33 into the fourth quarter.
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
A barrage of threes got TC rolling in the final eight minutes. Taylor connected twice to help the Eagles pull within one but Beavercreek (0-1) responded in kind each time. Senior Brennan Hochwalt stepped up with his own pair of threes, the first tying the score and the latter putting his side back in front by one with 1 minute, 47 seconds remaining.
Beavercreek junior Jack Haskins got his team back into the lead with 45 seconds left after recovering his own mishandle in the paint and sinking a floater in traffic.
Troy Christian faced an inbound situation from the right of its basket on the ensuing possession. Zawadzki said a drawn up play was executed as expected as Hochwalt threw up a lob near the basket that Thomas grabbed and laid in uncontested for his game-leading 18th and 19th points of the night.
“I put both seniors in control. Senior passing, senior receiving and yeah, what a great pass and what a great finish,” Zawadzki said.
Beavercreek got a final look on its own inbounds lob into the paint with six seconds left on the clock, but junior Dawson Paulus had his shot blocked by Thomas from behind.
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
“We expected a double screen and we blew it up, and they came back and ran a sneak play on us. They got it where they wanted, which was scary from my perspective because I didn’t see that coming,” Zawadzki said. “Our guys walled up.”
Hochwalt added 17 for Troy Christian. Haskins led Beavercreek with 17.
Beavercreek led 18-11 after the first and TC took a 26-25 advantage into halftime.
TC bowed out of the district tournament a year ago after having consecutive regional appearances before the expansion to seven divisions. Zawadzki said there was excitement coming into the year from the group he had returning, notably Thomas coming off a 14 points per game season in which he was honored with First Team All-Southwest District honors in D-VI.
Beavercreek presented itself as a prime chance to be an early test for where Troy Christian stood. Zawadzki was thankful to see his guys measure up.
“What we expect out of it is to learn from it, to see what weaknesses get exposed, what are the areas that we need to improve on, so that come tournament time we can just be a better basketball team,” he said.
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
About the Author
