That ability to handle the pressure was the key factor for East in a 60-57 Division I district championship triumph at Wright State University’s Nutter Center.
“What happened is they sped us up,” Thunderhawks forward Andrew Emrick said. “When the point guard gets sped up, everybody gets sped up, and they had a couple nice transition dunks. That was pretty impressive. But the whole time everybody was just saying, ‘Calm down, calm down. We’re going to get an opportunity.’ ”
East looked lost when it trailed 27-13 with 5:10 left in the second quarter. The Thunderhawks held a 13-9 lead, but the Warriors’ athleticism made them miserable for a stretch of nearly five minutes.
“We were kind of throwing it all over the place against their pressure,” East coach Clint Adkins said. “And you know what? (The kids) were calm. They came over and got collected.
“In the first half, I thought we were bunched up a little bit too much in the backcourt. We were too much side to side and not looking up the floor. In the second half, from a press-attack standpoint, we spaced the floor a little bit better, and I thought we did a better job of coming back to the ball, meeting passes and being aggressive. When we did that, we were able to get it in the halfcourt, and we were 19 of 32 from the field. Anytime you shoot that type of percentage, you’re going to have a chance of winning games.”
Adkins praised point guard Mark Isom, who had four turnovers in the first half and zero thereafter.
“Mark is our steady Eddie,” Adkins said. “He’s not flashy, but he gets us into our offense, and he does a great job on the defensive end against a lot of times their best player or point guard. What a stud.”
Wayne coach Travis Trice thought the biggest difference in the second half was his team’s lack of defensive fire.
“I just think our intensity level was down,” Trice said. “It’s really tough because I don’t want to take anything away from Lakota East. They did a great job executing.
“We didn’t do what we were supposed to do at the beginning of the game, which was pressure and get into our run and jump. We did that later in the first half, and it worked great for us. We came out and for whatever reason were extremely flat — more on the defensive end — to start the third quarter. To their credit, they hit shots. We talked about closing out every single time above the 3-point line, and they just got a lot of good, free looks to the basket.”
Wayne led 34-25 at the break. Ryan Middendorf and Evan Kuhlman opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers, and East was right back in the game.
Middendorf and Emrick combined for 14 points in the fourth period. Emrick scored in bursts, hitting two straight baskets in the third quarter and three buckets early in the last stanza.
“I just don’t want to quit playing,” Emrick said. “I love these guys so much, and it just happened that some sets were called that allowed me to create. When the lane opened, I had to take advantage of it.”
“Emrick … oh my gosh, he made that little run where he scored six, eight straight points, and that was the momentum changer in the game,” Adkins said. “He just said, ‘Get on my back, boys. Let’s go.’ He was just blowing by D-I guys. It was a senior moment, just like he had against Walnut Hills.”
Emrick missed 10 games with a stress fracture in his fibula, and his return has been vital to the Thunderhawks’ late-season success. He said he’s still not 100 percent healthy.
“I just can’t wait to get my jumping ability back,” Emrick said. “I got swatted pretty bad trying to go for a dunk, but that’s what you get when you get Trey Landers in the paint. I’ll let that be.
“This tournament run is really special. When I was a spectator, it was very tough mentally. To just be out here playing with guys I’ve grown up with … I mean, I’ve played with Ryan Middendorf since the second or third grade. To accomplish something like this with him is unreal.”
He said East’s diverse schedule has prepared the team for any kind of opponent. Centerville is next in the regional semifinals, having thrashed La Salle 58-38 on Saturday night.
The Thunderhawks will meet the Elks at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday at Xavier University’s Cintas Center. The second regional contest will be Wilmington vs. Moeller at 8 p.m.
Wilmington defeated Mason 63-38 and Moeller beat Springfield 64-58 on Saturday.
Warriors fall short: Wayne's bid for a second straight state championship came to an end, but it wasn't a bad performance by the Warriors. Indeed, they shot 52.4 percent from the field, 71.4 percent from the line, and committed only four turnovers.
Trice felt the loss was more about what Wayne didn’t do.
“We had opportunities where we scored a basket and went up one, and we pride ourselves on defense and didn’t get a stop,” Trice said. “I take a lot of the blame for this. It’s my job to get them ready and prepared. I felt like we were in pretty good shape. We just didn’t do a good job executing offensively or defensively.”
Enjoying the moment: Adkins shared a hug with former East coach Wally Vickers after Saturday's game.
Vickers was the head coach and Adkins was an assistant the last time the Thunderhawks advance to the regional in 2011.
“Wally and I spent a lot of battles together,” Adkins said. “He was a phenomenal mentor to me, and a lot of things I learned about the game were from Wally. He’s one of my biggest fans.”
The stat sheet: East earned a 23-13 advantage on the glass. Kuhlman had six rebounds, Middendorf four, and Emrick and Jarett Cox three apiece. … Cox scored seven points and Isom collected five assists for the Thunderhawks. … Not surprisingly, Landers was Wayne's top all-around performer. The University of Dayton signee had 15 points, four boards, five assists, two steals, one block and no turnovers.
Quotable: "We've had good practice situations like what we saw in the second half. We've practiced under pressure. We try to make it as gamelike as possible and just trust the fundamentals." — Middendorf
Lakota East 13-12-13-22—60
Wayne 14-20-6-17—57
LAKOTA EAST (18-7) — Evan Kuhlman 4 1 11, Andrew Emrick 7 6 21, Mark Isom 1 0 2, Jon Fox 0 2 2, Ryan Middendorf 6 2 17, Jarett Cox 1 5 7. Totals: 19-16-60
WAYNE (25-1) — L’Christian Smith 4 0 8, Chandler Foitno 0 1 1, Trey Landers 5 5 15, Chazz George 6 2 15, Rodrick Caldwell 1 0 2, Isaiah Trice 1 0 2, Demond Parker 5 2 14. Totals: 22-10-57
3-points: L 6 (Middendorf 3, Kuhlman 2, Emrick), W 3 (Parker 2, George)
About the Author