“I caught fire, and then I guess our whole team caught fire,” said Woods, a senior guard who was named Player of the Game for his squad. “We figured it out early on. Everybody was playing good basketball, and we were happy.”
Woods fired in 12 points in the second period of a contest that was deadlocked 51-51 at halftime. The Red pummeled the Blue by a 36-8 margin in the third quarter.
Also among the top Red scorers were Cincinnati Christian’s Christian Keese (16), Edgewood’s Eddie Driskell (14) and Garrett Gabbard (11), Fairfield’s Ben Phillips (14), Fenwick’s John Engelmeier (13) and Madison’s Grant Whisman (12).
“It’s always nice to come out on the winning side,” said Hamilton assistant Mark Hiegl, who guided the Red team along with Badin’s Gerry Weisgerber. Hiegl replaced HHS head coach Sean Van Winkle — he was in South Carolina for a wedding.
“I found out last week that I was going to help Gerry,” Hiegl continued. “I coached with him at Lakota West, so I stepped in and was glad to do so. We told our guys we did want them to compete and guard some and get up and down the court and have fun. That’s what they did.”
Harrison’s Jacob Back snagged a game-high nine rebounds for the Red. Keese and Monroe’s Tristan Backas both had seven, and Gabbard and West’s Malachi Hughes added six apiece.
The winners drilled 14 shots from beyond the arc. The Blue made 10 treys.
“There was a little nerves at the beginning, but after the game started going, it was just fun for everybody,” said Woods, who has yet to make a college choice and will play in the Ohio North-South All-Star Game on Friday night at Otterbein University. “Guys just let loose. I enjoyed the competitions we had, and the game was even better.”
This game’s format included coaches not coaching their own players, so CCS coach Carl Woods was part of the Blue staff (with Edgewood’s John Thomas) and watched his son dominate his team.
“That was a very humbling experience to sit there and watch. I had never coached against him before,” Carl Woods said. “It was like, ‘Wow, this is what teams had to defend or prepare for.’ When he gets going, he gets going. It was a great time to relax and enjoy and reflect back on his career. Hopefully he puts on another performance like this in front of the state on Friday. That would be awesome.”
Woods said the difference in roster sizes may have contributed to the Red’s third-quarter eruption. Four players on the Blue roster opted to skip the game.
“We adjusted the lineups a little bit because we had a 15-man roster as opposed to their 11-man roster,” Woods said. “We wanted the kids to at least get some action each quarter. (The Blue team) got a chance to get more into a groove, and maybe our kids couldn’t get into that kind of rhythm. They were shooting lights out, and we couldn’t buy a bucket.”
Hamilton senior forward Hunter Hamilton was the Player of the Game for the Blue after putting up 11 points and eight rebounds. Talawanda’s Justin Boggs had 13 points, while Lakota East’s Evan Kuhlman tallied 11 and Middletown’s Cliff Snow chipped in 10.
“Even with the loss, everybody had fun,” Hamilton said. “You could tell by the excitement that happened with every shot from each team. It was extra special for me because I realized it was going to be the last time I played an actual game in here. I kind of reminisced about all the times I played here.”
Middletown’s Jomar Bailey contributed a thunderous dunk in a game that included six slams, and Hamilton had two of them. He hadn’t seen action since HHS lost to Elder on Feb. 24.
“I went to the Y a little bit and did a little bit of stuff on my own, and then they said, ‘You’re playing in the all-star game,’ ” Hamilton said. “At first, I was kind of like, ‘It’s just another basketball game.’ Then I was like, ‘This is an all-star game and I should feel pretty special to play, so I have to take it seriously.’ And once I got there, I realized it felt good to play again.”
He hopes to continue playing at the next level. Hamilton mentioned Tiffin, Mount St. Joseph and Miami Hamilton as possibilities.
Hiegl said the entire all-star event was a positive for HHS and Butler County.
“The community was here, we got to show off the school and how beautiful the facilities are, and we got to showcase all the talent in Butler County,” Hiegl said. “I think it’s a very good thing that should happen again next year.”
Saturday’s pregame competitions were won by Boggs (3-point shooting) and Engelmeier (ball handling).
Blue 24-27-8-36—95
Red 21-30-36-30—117
BLUE (95): Evan James 3 1 8 (three rebounds), Ronin Koeller 0 0 0 (no rebounds), Evan Kuhlman 4 0 11 (four rebounds), Justin Boggs 5 0 13 (four rebounds), Cliff Snow 4 2 10 (four rebounds), Justin Pappas 2 0 4 (two rebounds), Ronnie Bowman 1 2 4 (five rebounds), Myles Howard 3 0 6 (five rebounds), Landen Angel 2 0 5 (three rebounds), Hunter Hamilton 5 0 11 (eight rebounds), John Marot 2 2 6 (three rebounds), Joe Mack 1 0 2 (five rebounds), Joey Wright 1 0 2 (five rebounds), Jarod Hamlin 2 0 5 (two rebounds), Jomar Bailey 4 0 8 (two rebounds). Totals: 39-7-95 (55 rebounds)
RED (117): Mason Whiteman 1 0 2 (no rebounds), Dylan Woods 8 0 19 (five rebounds), Christian Keese 8 0 16 (seven rebounds), Tristan Backas 4 0 8 (seven rebounds), Eddie Driskell 6 0 14 (four rebounds), Jacob Back 1 1 3 (nine rebounds), John Engelmeier 6 0 13 (five rebounds), Grant Whisman 4 0 12 (one rebound), Ben Phillips 6 1 14 (two rebounds), Garrett Gabbard 4 1 11 (six rebounds), Malachi Hughes 2 0 5 (six rebounds). Totals: 50-3-117 (52 rebounds)
3-pointers: B 10 (Kuhlman 3, Boggs 3, James, Angel, Hamilton, Hamlin), R 14 (Whisman 4, Woods 3, Driskell 2, Gabbard 2, Engelmeier, Phillips, Hughes)
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