‘Special’ Chaminade Julienne team, Dunbar collect D-II district titles
The day CINCINNATI — the Washington brothers enrolled at Chaminade Julienne the imagination changed for Evan Dickey about what his senior season could be.
“I knew something was special,” Dickey said. “When they came in, it was just high energy. We mixed right away. I just knew something good was going to happen.”
Dickey doesn’t have to imagine anymore. The Eagles are 24-2, ranked No. 2 in the state and Division II district champions for the second time in three years. The Eagles swooped into the Cintas Center on Sunday afternoon and flew past Cincinnati Wyoming 65-35.
“It’s always a great feeling to come into a place like this with a great crowd — a culmination of a year’s work,” Eagles coach Charlie Szabo said. “You set goals at the beginning of the year, and to achieve (one) is very, very worthwhile.”
George Washington III, who signed to play at Michigan, fulfilled every promise of what he could do for the Eagles. He averaged 24 points a game, became an instant leader and was voted the Southwest District Division II player of the year.
“From Day 1 when we started the preseason off we saw our potential,” Washington said. “And as soon as our season started, we really showed it.”
The Eagles’ show will continue this week when they face Columbus Watterson in the regional semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday at Vandalia Butler. The Eagles beat Watterson by 20 points in the 2021 regional final to advance to state.
Dickey was a sophomore starter and role player on the 2021 team led by seniors Daniel Nauseef and Anthony Solomon and freshman Jonathan Powell, who now plays at Centerville. Dickey is now at the center of attention with Washington and B.B. Washington.
“Back then I feel like I was more of a role player,” Dickey said. “Obviously, it meant a lot, but this one right here we’ve been talking about this as seniors. This is our win as a team, but we put the leadership in, put the time in and it’s just great trying to keep it rolling.”
The Eagles led 30-20 at halftime before really starting to roll in the third quarter. They scored the first 12 points before a Wyoming free throw more than halfway through the quarter. The Eagles won the quarter 18-3 and led 48-23.
“I didn’t think we played great IQ basketball in the first half,” Szabo said. “But the second half, we came out we imposed our will, especially defensively.”
Offensively, the Eagles were balanced with Dickey scoring 18, B.B. Washington 17 and George Washington 14.
“George is good enough to take over a game when he wants to, but we’ve got other good players and it’s so much easier when we have balance,” Szabo said. “When we have those three guys, we’re so much tougher to guard than when he has to get us tough buckets one on five or anything like that.”
Dunbar 72, Cincinnati Woodward 59: Dunbar’s two-point loss at Woodward on Jan. 24 almost feels like it never happened. Antaune Allen and company made sure of that Sunday with the Wolverines’ first district title since 2017.
Dunbar (20-6) built a 17-point lead in the third quarter and held off Woodward’s (19-5) frenetic attempt at a fourth-quarter comeback. The Bulldogs got as close as eight with 5:09 left.
Allen led Dunbar with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Brewer scored 17 points and Antone Allen and B.J. Hatcher added 11 apiece.
Dunbar will play Alter or Cincinnati Taft in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Butler.