“It’s one of the best moments of our lives,” said senior guard Zach Haeseker, who paced Valley View with 14 points. “We haven’t won a playoff game in a while, and we came out and got it done. Now we have a bigger opponent. We’ll be ready.”
That bigger opponent is top-seeded Trotwood-Madison, which mauled Eaton 106-44 in Tuesday’s nightcap.
The Spartans (16-7) and Trotwood (22-2) will square off in a 5 p.m. sectional title game Saturday at the University of Dayton Arena.
“To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” Buehner said. “I’ve seen bigger upsets in the tournament before. We’re going to prepare to win the game. We’ve got an opportunity against one of the best teams in the state regardless of division.”
No. 7 seed Valley View never trailed against 11th-seeded Badin, though the Rams were competitive all night.
Two negative factors for Badin: No. 1, the Spartans were 18 of 26 from the foul line, while the Rams were 5 of 6. No. 2, BHS got outscored 5-0 to close the game and notched its last point with 4:19 left.
“We had opportunities to cut it to one, and if you can cut it to one, anything can happen,” Badin coach Gerry Weisgerber said. “Every time we were right there, something happened. Valley View’s very good, and we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
John Marot (17) and Justin Pappas (12) were the leading scorers for the Rams, who shot 28.8 percent from the field. Pappas collected a team-high seven boards and three steals.
Ben Herman and Levi McMonigle scored 11 points apiece for the Spartans, who made 47.1 percent of their field goals, and Clayton Erbaugh added eight points. Herman (nine), McMonigle (eight) and Tyler Whiteman (seven) did most of the board work.
“The games we tend to lose are games where we have adversity and don’t respond very well,” said Buehner, who has 92 career victories and is now tied with Russ Wallace for the top spot on the school’s all-time wins list.
“We responded today. Not as cleanly as I hoped … we were still a little loose with some of our execution. But we fought and hung in there and did what we needed to do.”
Buehner liked his team’s defense down the stretch. He didn’t realize Badin had finished with such a lengthy scoring drought.
“That shows we were willing to play defense when it mattered,” Buehner said. “That goes with the resiliency we showed to fight and win a game when we had some adversity.”
Asked about becoming Valley View’s co-leader in wins, he replied, “It’s kind of sad that we haven’t had people stay around very long, but it is what it is. I’ve had a good run. I’m happy with it.”
The Rams got six rebounds from Jakob Tipton. Seth Thompson chipped in seven points and four boards.
Badin is losing five seniors: Evan Grawe, Alex Jones, Brian Gerbus, Thompson and Marot. The Rams equaled last year’s 9-15 record.
“It’s tough to go out, but it’s not as tough when I know they played as hard as they could,” Weisgerber said. “Success isn’t always having a winning record. It’s where we started to where we ended, and I really believe we improved from the day we started to the day we ended. That’s how I deal with the success of this team.”
Weisgerber completed his 19th season at the BHS helm, but his first since 1998-99. He plans to return next season.
“Oh yeah, I’m coming back,” Weisgerber said. “The coaches have done a great job, and we’ve got some good kids coming through the program. The seniors have laid a good foundation. Now it’s up to the younger kids to improve upon everything they did.”
Badin 11-13-9-12—45
Valley View 14-14-13-11—52
BADIN (9-15): Caleb Meyer 1 0 2, Seth Thompson 2 2 7, Daunte DeCello 1 2 4, Justin Pappas 5 0 12, John Marot 7 0 17, Warren Clarke 1 1 3. Totals: 17-5-45
VALLEY VIEW (16-7): Ben Herman 5 0 11, Clayton Erbaugh 2 3 8, Austin Clark 0 3 3, Tyler Whiteman 2 1 5, Zach Haeseker 5 4 14, Levi McMonigle 2 7 11. Totals: 16-18-52
3-pointers: B 6 (Marot 3, Pappas 2, Thompson), V 2 (Herman, Erbaugh)
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