HBy Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — With the holidays done, here are the scores and stats from the boys high school basketball games that took place between the holidays.

Versailles defeats Greenville to start week:

The Tigers won 56-29 over Greenville on Dec. 27 to start their week of games. Greenville started off getting the lead early before Versailles stormed back to take it.

It was a defensive battle in the first half as Versailles led 22-12. Both teams started out slow. Versailles head coach Travis Swank said it’s something about after the holidays that causes teams to come out slow.

“Just something about Christmas. I don’t know if it’s too much food or what’s going on there. We were able to bounce back and again our defense tonight really helped us come through with this game,” Swank said.

In the second half, Versailles held Greenville to three made field goals. The Green Wave tried all they could to stay in the game after a good first quarter, but couldn’t get going.

The Tigers found their way offensively, especially finding success scoring inside the paint. Swank said the team will have to win with their defense for now as they straighten out their offense.

“Our offense just isn’t clicking right now. We’re going to have to rely on our defense to bail us out, especially here early,” Swank said.

Versailles senior Carson Heitkamp and junior Jace Watren had 15 points each. Swank said Heitkamp has shown to be one of their better offensive players as he can score inside and out. Senior A.J. Griesdorn had 11 points.

For Greenville, senior Chace Drew had nine points. Senior Jack Chick and junior Drew Hamilton each had five points.

Greenville then got their first win of the season over Fairborn, 55-45. Greenville outscored Fairborn 19-9 in the fourth quarter. Hamilton led with 18 points while junior Owen McGreevey had 15 points and Drew had 13 points.

Versailles fell to Miami East at home, 47-39. Watren had 13 points and Griesdorn had 10 points.

Greenville is 1-8 on the season. Greenville will be at Piqua on Jan. 5 for a 7:30 p.m. tip off then go to Eaton on Jan. 6 for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.

Versailles is 4-2 on the season. They will go to Fort Recovery on Jan. 5 for a 7 p.m. tip off. They will then host St. Mary’s on Jan. 6 at 5:30 p.m.

A full game recap of the Versailles vs Greenville game can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com

Franklin Monroe finishes runner-ups in Jet Holiday Tournament:

As hosts of the Jet Holiday Tournament, Franklin Monroe started the tournament with a 71-49 win over Mississinawa Valley. Junior Eric Brenner had 26 points and junior EB Fall had 14 points.

The team then fell to Maumee Valley Country Day, 54-52, in overtime in the championship game. Head coach Troy Myers said while they are not happy with the result, he is proud of how his team fought in this pressure situation.

“I think two weeks ago, we would not have even known how to try to close out that game. The last two and half minutes of the fourth quarter were brutal. We didn’t get the stops that we needed,” Myers said. “We just said in there, ‘We’re not happy by any means, but we’re proud.’ You can be proud of the effort, proud of the plan, proud of the discipline that our kids have for all but two and half minutes of the game.”

Myers said some players showed a lot of growth in this game and in the tournament. Brenner has shown to be an offensive threat at all levels as he had 27 points in this game and made five three-point shots.

Sophomore Lucas Brenner handled the press and ran the offense efficiently. Myers said Lucas has grown his ball handling skills and his command of the offense has gotten better.

Lucas gave the Jets a 38-36 lead with 5:15 remaining. They had a lead until the last seconds of the game. Maumee was able to score to tie the game and got a turnover to get a last shot chance. The Jets topped them to send the game into overtime.

With the clock down to 14.1 seconds left in the first overtime period, the Hawks ran off some time and scored with only four seconds left.

Fall got the ball for the last shot, but it just bounced off the rim. Myers said with all of the work Fall has put in, whether it was mandatory or extra work, he trusts Fall with the last shot and can live with the outcome.

Myers said he hopes this experience will teach his team that every possession is crucial in close games. He wants the team to prepare for these moments by trying to make practice as important as those possessions.

“What we need to learn from this is every two-point game, those possession are so magnified you cannot give grace to any possession because you think it doesn’t matter. Or any rep in practice because you think it doesn’t matter. At the end when you need discipline and you need to get a stop or you need to get a bucket, you better have practiced that and you better be locked in,” Myers said.

Behind Eric Brenner in scoring was Lucas and Fall with eight points each. The team shot 42.9% from three-point range.

Franklin Monroe will host Bradford on Jan. 5 at 7:15 p.m. and then host Legacy Christian on Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m.

A full game recap against Maumee can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.

Mississinawa Valley plays in Jet Holiday Tournament:

The Blackhawks fell in both games in the Jet Holiday Tournament. They lost 71-49 to Franklin Monroe in the first game. They then lost to Brookville in the consolation game, 79-18.

The turnovers turned into easy transition points for Brookville. That led them to getting the big win.

Head coach Cole Hamilton said despite the score, his team kept working and fighting till the end. It was a better effort than what the team gave in the loss to Franklin Monroe.

“We kind of struggled against Franklin Monroe, effort wise, a little bit last night. Tonight, I thought the effort was there. We dove after some loose balls, got after it a little bit. Some of our shots didn’t fall, some of our easy shots didn’t fall,” Hamilton said.

Brookville scored 24 points in the third quarter as Mississinawa Valley tried different things and lineups to try and get back into the game.

The Blackhawks did show some good possession during the game, but couldn’t be consistent enough to cut into the deficit. Hamilton said they just have to take care of the ball better, especially against teams that will press.

Senior Aron Hunt had nine points to lead the team. Sophomore Wyatt Stump had three points.

Mississinawa Valley will have a game at Arcanum on Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. The Blackhawks are 1-9 on the season.

Bradford wins Buccaneer Holiday Tournament:

The Railroaders won both of their games in the Covington Holiday Tournament to win it all. They started out with a 65-41 win over Houston in the first round.

Bradford was down 11-0 early before a three-point shot by senior Hudson Hill and a steal and score by junior Dalton Branson gave them a 16-13 lead after the first quarter.

From there, they went on a 7-2 run and led the rest of the way through. Coach Alex Swabb said Houston deserves a ton of credit for coming out swinging. Once the team saw a shot fall in, they got back on track.

“Big props to Houston, they came out and set the pace, set the tone. We were playing their tone to start that game. We were able to get a nice break there, broke the lid on the basket a little bit. Once that happened, we settled in, relaxed a little bit and we were able to play our game,” Swabb said.

It was three of the most experienced players for Bradford leading the way. Junior Owen Canan led with 21 points. Hill had 19 and senior Landon Wills had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Hill made five threes in the game.

Swabb said all three have the experience at the varsity level to kick start the team when they’re struggling.

“All three of those kids have a lot of experience. We leaned on them a lot. They’ve all have varsity experience the last three years. All three have seen varsity minutes since they were freshmen. That’s dramatically helped their development,” Swabb said. “In pressure situations, to be able to pull out of doubt and to start getting some things going good for us and take control.”

They followed up the win with a big win over Covington in the championship game, 56-40. Canan had 24 points and was 10 for 10 from the free throw line. Wills dropped 15 points and had 16 rebounds. As a team, they were 16 for 20 from the free throw line.

Canan was named the tournament MVP.

Bradford will have back to back road games. They will be at Franklin Monroe on Jan. 5 for a 7:15 p.m. tip off and then at Fairlawn on Jan. 6 for another 7:15 p.m. tip off. They are 7-2 on the season.

Arcanum finishes third in Buccaneer Holiday Tournament:

The Trojans started the Covington Holiday Tournament with an 82-67 loss to Covington. It was a back and forth game until Covington broke away at the end.

Covington junior Brogen Angle broke the tournament record for points in a game with 37 points. Head coach Kevin Brackman said the focus going forward has to be on improving the defense.

“That’s our primary focus, it’s got to be going forward. We’ve got athletes, we’ve got basketball players. But we got to find ways to keep the score down. We give up a lot of points, our defensive rotations have got to be better, we got to be sharper,” Brackman said.

Both teams went on big runs during the game as they matched each other offensively. In the third quarter after bing down 37-32 at halftime, Arcanum went on a 6-0 run to get a lead. Senior Brady Lock had 11 points in the third quarter, including a dunk over a player to capitalize the run.

Brackman said they have guys who can do a lot of good things offensively and it showed in this game. Each bring their own different style to the offense.

“Brady was able to take the ball down the lane and two-hand dunk over a top a kid. That’s a player we have not seen yet. He’s had open floor dunks,” Brackman said. “We did so many good things offensively. Landon Flatter was able to get to the basket in the first quarter. Luke Henniger was a really good post presence for us. Regan was able to hit really good shots coming off screens.”

But, they couldn’t contain Angle and the Covington offense. Brackman said they tried many different things to throw him off, but everything Angle put up went in.

Sophomore Regan Christ finished the game with 23 points while Lock had 16 points. The team shot 52.9% from the field and 54.5% from three point range.

The next day, Arcanum defeated Houston 42-39. Christ led with 15 points. Eight other different Arcanum players scored as well. The team shot 31% from the field in the consolation game.

The Trojans will host Mississinawa Valley on Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. They are 5-6 on the season.

Around the county:

Ansonia dropped back to back games on Dec. 29 and 30. They lost 64-38 at Coldwater after being outscored 40-16 in the second half. Senior Trevor Hemmerich led the team with 11 points. The Tigers only made three trips to the free throw line. They then lost at Celina, 54-26. Ansonia was held scoreless in the first quarter. Senior Ethan Reichert had nine points to lead the team. Ansonia will have a road game at Tri-Village on Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. The Tigers are 3-6 on the season.

Tri-Village won the Dixie Holiday Tournament on Dec. 28 and 29. They started off the tournament with a 69-40 win over Northridge. Senior Tanner Printz led with 22 points. Sophomore Kaysn Hollinger had 15 points off the bench. Senior Braden Keating and sophomore Trey Sagester each had 12 points. The team shot 53.6% from the field. They then defeated Eaton in the championship game, 55-47. Sagester had 30 points and was 13 for 15 from the free throw line in the win over Eaton. Senior Reed Wehr scored 12 points. The Patriots will host Ansonia on Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. and then go to Belmont on Jan. 6 for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]