Watterson, Desales squeeze out regional wins
Noah Grayem made the go-ahead three-point basket in the second overtime to help Watterson squeeze past Cincinnati Mcnicholas 48-41 on Thursday in a Division II boys basketball regional semifinal at Vandalia Butler High School.
Jacob Hoying scored 16 points to lead Watterson, which trailed by as many as nine points in the third quarter before rallying. The Eagles (12-15) play Dayton Chaminade-julienne at 1 p.m. Saturday for a regional title.
“Our guys just hung tough, played great defense and battled,” coach Vince Lombardo told Thisweek Newspapers. “Things weren’t looking good for us being down by nine in the third quarter but we responded and hung around.”
Watterson actually had chances to put the game away in the first overtime, after Hoying’s basket late in regulation tied the score at 33. He made a three-pointer to help the Eagles a 3934 lead but Mcnicholas (20-5) scored five points in the final 27 seconds, including a three-pointer by Tyler Haynes to force a second OT.
Grayem’s three-pointer gave Watterson the lead for good at 42-41 and the Eagles made their free throws down the stretch.
“We’re not a great shooting basketball team,” Lombardo told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Our thing is defense, play hard and we seem to come up with big plays when we need them.”
Desales 40, Unioto 37
Obed Achirem made the go-ahead basket with 1:05 remaining and Desales (17-7) locked down on defense in the final minute to hold off Unioto (18-6) in a Division II regional semifinal at Chillicothe
Southeastern.
Desmond Watson, who led Desales with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, made the clinching free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining.
The Stallions play Byesville Meadowbrook at 3 p.m. Saturday for a berth in next week’s state tournament.
“They gave us some trouble,” Desales coach Pat Murphy told Thisweek. “They had some spurts where they were getting more rebounds and 50/50 balls and we weren’t finishing at the rim or hitting free throws like we usually do. We didn’t follow our game plan as well as we wanted to but it’s about toughness and grit and finding a way to win.”
The game was tight throughout, with no team ever leading by more than five points, when Desales took a 36-31 lead with 3:20 remaining.
Unioto then scored six straight points when Cameron Debord hit a jumper and then converted a four-point play for a 37-36 lead with 1:20 left. But Achirem answered 15 seconds later with an inside bucket to give the Stallions the lead for good.
Desales forced two turnovers in the final 10 seconds.
Information from Thisweek Newspapers, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Chillicothe Gazette was used in this story.