Academy makes late run to win

Columbus Academy 48, Grandview 43

When Grandview opened up an eight-point lead on Columbus Academy midway through the fourth quarter of a pivotal Mid-state League Ohio Division game Friday, those in the know knew not to count out the Vikings.

“Anybody who has seen us knows that we play close games almost every night and we seem to have done pretty well in them,” Columbus Academy coach Jeff Warstler said.

Chalk up another nail-biter win for the Vikings, whose poise and discipline helped them rally for a 48-43 win before a noisy crowd at Grandview. Academy (14-4, 5-2) retained the MSL Ohio lead and solidified its chances of a high seed for the Divsion III tournament.

“It sounds simple, but we just do what we do and play our game the best we can,” Academy 6-foot-4 senior Chris Boyle said. “We certainly didn’t think we were Academy’s Chris Boyle gets inside Grandview’s Luke Lachey for a shot. out of it. All it took was a few breaks to go our way.”

Grandview (11-6, 3-4) made some critical errors that allowed Academy to go on a 20-7 run in the final 5:30.

Academy’s Herman Moultrie missed the back end of a twoshot foul, but Hayden Compton grabbed the rebound and dished to Boyle for a three-pointer to cut the Vikings’ deficit to 36-32.

With the scored tied 39-39 with 2:36 to go, Grandview had four consecutive fruitless possessions while Academy got another three-pointer by Boyle and six free throws by the Vikings to seal the victory. Academy finished 17 of 28 at the line and Grandview was 5 of 9.

Warstler was expecting a low-scoring slugfest. Academy allows roughly 40 points per game.

“We didn’t want to get the points up there much higher,” he said. “We’re willing to go up and down the floor as long as we get what we want, but our identity is to rely on our defense to win games.”

Grandview coach Ray Corbett, who is a close friend of Warstler, knew Academy wouldn’t go away.

“They’ve found ways all year and to their credit, they did it again,” he said. “Their senior leadership showed up in a big way down the stretch and ours didn’t.

“We gave them offensive rebounds by not boxing out on free throws and they scored twice. We did not go the hole strong. We shied away from contact and they didn’t. The experience they have is huge. They didn’t panic. They stayed within their structure and that’s why they came out on top.”

Brian Collier had 16 points to pace Grandview, which came in with wins in five of six games after being blown out at Academy 61-39 on Jan. 4. That was one of six games that Luke Lachey, a key player for the Bobcats, missed with mononucleosis.