Springboro blanked in 4th in district finals loss to Moeller
CINCINNATI — Will Yates didn’t have to play basketball his senior season for Springboro. He could have focused on his football scholarship to Ball State.
But Yates loves basketball, and the season he and his teammates had made it all worth it.
“Basketball’s always been in my heart,” Yates said. “Coach (Brian) Bales told me to stick through it. He told me we would have a good season this year. I cared a lot about this team.”
The Panthers’ breakthrough regular season and tournament run, however, ran into top-ranked Cincinnati Moeller on Sunday at the Cintas Center and ended with a 51-34 defeat in the Division I district finals.
“They’ve got a good team, I’m not going to lie,” Yates said. “All around they got all the parts they need. But we gave it all we got. I gave it all I got.”
The final score belies what the Panthers (18-7) did for three quarters. When the fourth quarter started, the score was 34-34 and Yates had 19 points. Then Moeller’s size — including long arms everywhere — took its toll and the Panthers didn’t score in the quarter.
The Crusaders creating havoc were 6-foot-5 A.J. McBride (13 points) 6-4 Eric Mahaffey (10 points) and 6-4 Alex Kazanecki. They combined for six of Moeller’s nine steals. The Crusaders (25-1) scored 12 points off turnovers. And the overall size advantage led to a 36-8 advantage of points in the paint.
“For three quarters we showed we can play with, in my opinion, the best team in the state,” Bales said. “I’m so proud of our preparation defensively in the half court. We guarded them really, really good in the half court for three quarters.”
Early in the fourth quarter, live-ball turnovers led to two Moeller dunks and the Crusaders took complete control and melted the clock.
Defensively the Crusaders kept the Panthers away from the basket and out of the lane. They shot 39 times and 24 of them were 3-point attempts. The Panthers made 14 3-pointers in their first two tournament games but only eight on Sunday. After Yates’ 19, Maxim Butler scored six. After two early 3-pointers, he missed his last seven attempts under duress.
“Shots we’re used to getting and gaps we’re used to getting into and kicking, it was just really tough,” Bales said. “I even had a couple of my guys come over, and we’re trying to run certain sets, and they said ‘Coach, their length we just can’t get into it.’”
Yates scored 12 of his 19 in the first half. His consecutive 3-pointers put the Panthers up 25-16 halfway through the second quarter. Moeller cut the lead to 27-23 at halftime.
“He was pretty special in that first half,” Bales said. “Will is a special kid and we can’t replace him. In the fourth he tried to put us on his back, and he’s done that many times, and so how do you tell a guy no.”