Trotwood’s Davis holds Wildcats off with 43 points in 94-87 victory
SPRINGFIELD — Rocky Rockhold admits he’s biased. But he’s not afraid to say what he believes about his star player, Amari Davis.
“To me he’s Mr. Basketball,” Rockhold said. “He’s the best player in the state in any division. We’ve seen it time and time again. He’s yet to have a bad game.”
Davis was on fire again Friday night for Trotwood-Madison. He scored 43 points and made 14 of 16 free throws to lead the Rams to a 94-87 victory at Springfield in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Springfield (13-9) rallied from 12 down in the final minutes and trailed 90-87 when RaHeim Moss missed a 3-point attempt with 16 seconds left. Davis was fouled during the scramble for the rebound. Of course, he made both free throws with 13 seconds left to secure the Rams’ 20th victory against two losses and their 10th straight win.
“We played well enough to win tonight.” Springfield coach Isaiah Carson said. “Trotwood’s a great basketball team, and they get up in you all game long. We had our chances at the end.”
Springfield led 10-0 before Trotwood’s full-court pressure allowed them to surge to a 22-13 lead. The Rams led to the end with the exception of a couple moments in the second quarter. But the Wildcats — led by Moss’ 25 points and David Sanford’s 17 — were never out of it.
“I love Springfield’s toughness, so it’s always fun to see if we’re tough enough because they’re always going to be physical,” Rockhold said. “The last four seasons we’ve ended with them on our schedule, and I believe it’s helped us moving forward.”
The Rams shared the No. 1 ranking in the state Division II poll this week with Columbus South. They enter the tournament led by Davis’ 29 points a game. Carl Blanton had 29 points against the Wildcats and averages 18. Point guard Sammy Anderson left Friday’s game with a shoulder injury. Rockhold said having him healthy is important to another chance at a long tournament run that ended last year with a loss in the state final.
“If Sammy’s healthy, I like our team — I love our team,” Rockhold said.
The top-seeded Rams open sectional play at Springfield at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against 11th-seeded Bellefontaine. Springfield is seeded No. 2 in Division I and faces No. 20 Tecumseh at 5 p.m. Thursday at Vandalia Butler. The Wildcats are on a probable collision course to face No. 4 Sidney in the sectional final for the second straight year.
The Wildcats shared the GWOC National East title with Centerville at 10-2. But the Wildcats lost five of their final eight games.
“We’re not playing like ourselves, we’re not trusting the system,” Moss said. “In the future, we have to trust the system more and just get the job done. Big things can happen if we trust coach in what he’s telling us.”
Carson is encouraged by the last three halves.
“We had a little stretch there where it got bumpy, but we’re back focused in,” he said. “This is a very good basketball team. We’re starting to hit our stride, we’re starting to make shots and we’re starting to make free throws.”