Waynesville took a 4 – 5 lead in the first 2 minutes into the game and next 4 minutes were nothing short of ugly as either team could find the handle of the basketball or the bottom of the net.

Miami East’s calling card is their half court trap defense and they forced Waynesville into 8 first turnovers in the first quarter. The difference is that they didn’t score as many points off turnovers in that first quarter and their offense was nothing worth writing home about in the first 6 minutes of the ballgame. However, the defense did shake up the Spartans and it gave the tempo and control of the game to Miami East.

Tyler Beard came off the bench to score a bucket at the 2:15 mark that started a 9 – 1 run for the Vikings. Logan Carey scored on a nice bucket in the paint and Hickman nailed a trey that put the Vikes up 11 – 6. The quarter ended with Hickman finding Beard open on the block and Miami East led 13 – 6 after one.

Beard wasn’t the only one contributing off the bench as the second quarter started with a good hustle play from Justin Hershberger as he had a nice stick back bucket off of a Carey miss.

While Hickman did not sit a minute the previous game against Twin Valley South, Coach Alan Mack was substituting for him frequently throughout this game. “We substituted for him 7 or 8 times tonight just to keep him fresh and keep some water in him” noted Mack.

Miami East did a great job of keeping the pressure out front on a very athletic back court combo for the Spartans. The Spartans also had some size in the paint and it was difficult for them to run a half court set when they had difficulty getting ball across the half court line.

Hickman did not score a point in the second quarter and the Vikings did a great job of running the offense and finding the open man. Five different players scored for Miami East in the quarter and the run made in the middle of quarter without Hickman on the floor was most impressive. Kyle Karadak started the run with a jumper off the left side of the lane. Carey and Tyler Dunivan nailed consecutive 3 point goals that gave the Vikings a 23 – 11 lead with just under 4 minutes remaining in the half.

A rested Hickman entered the game to help finish out the quarter. Beard made a hustling play after a missed free throw from Hickman and was fouled. After Beard made one of his charity tosses, Hickman found Beard open later in the quarter with a beautiful behind the back pass as time expired. East took a 15 point lead into half time, 26 – 11.

Waynesville outscored the Miami East 17 – 8 in the third quarter to narrow the gap to six. East committed 7 turnovers in the quarter while the Spartans utilized some of their size inside to begin the half. The bad news in the quarter is that East lost nine points of their lead. The good news is that they were able to get both of the Spartan big men in foul trouble by mid quarter that slowed Waynesville’s momentum that they built in the beginning of the half.

The fourth quarter began with a sixth person stepping up for East in a large fashion with Aaron Mitchell. Hickman found Mitchell open in the paint to extend their lead back to 8 points. With Hickman coming in and out of the game Mitchell became the third guard in handling the Spartan full court pressure.

“Aaron Mitchell did a great job filling in at the point” complimented Mack. “He is a real flexible and team type player to be able to go from the post, to the wing and the point on the same night. He’s done that for us several times and tonight he stepped up for us.”

Waynesville went on a 7 – 1 run to close within 2 points and caused Alan Mack to call a timeout with 5:39 remaining. A good time out it turned out to be as Waynesville went ice cold and the Vikings slowly worked their way to a sectional title.

Hickman found Mitchell for his second deuce of the game to make the score 39 – 35 with over 4 minutes remaining.

After the two teams exchanged free throws, Hickman left the game and East ran one of their offensive sets. It highlighted the ball handling of the team as the Spartan’s stepped up the pressure. Logan Carey broke around a Spartan defender with 3:08 to play with a nice drive from the left wing with a bucket that gave the Vikings the cushion needed to seal the game.

“Logan (Carey) really played hard tonight and I think his basket at that point was a huge play in the game. It just seemed to give our guys a burst of confidence” said Mack.

The last 3 minutes also highlighted the defensive pressure that Carey provided at the tip of the Viking defense. Carey provided the full court man pressure to slow the athletic Waynesville guards down where they couldn’t find a 3 point rhythm to help mount that final push. Once the Spartan player crossed the half court line the rest of his teammates helped apply the pressure as Waynesville didn’t hit a shot the remainder of the game. The Vikings sealed the deal by shooting 8 or 12 from the charity stripe.

“It was a great team effort” commented Miami East Head Coach Alan Mack. “We’ve really been working hard defensively over the last 3 days to prepare in what I thought was one of the better offensive teams we’ve met all season. Tonight we were able to contain them and hold them to 36 and they came averaging about the same as us, around 64 points per game. Our guys locked down and played great defense all night long. I’m just very proud of them and excited to be moving back to the Districts once again.”

“Dan just showed on what type of player he is and how tough of a player he is” commented Mack on his Cross County Player of the Year. “I know what type of kid Dan is and how much this meant personally and to all the other guys on the team. I was pretty confident that we would find a way to make the plays. Dan just gutted it out tonight.”

Miami East will play the winner of the Cincinnati Christian Hills / North College Hill game on March 12th, at 9 PM at UD Arena.

Scoring by quarters

Waynesville…6…11…28…36
Miami East…13…26…34…50

Waynesville
#5 Williams – 8
#22 Gauntreaux – 5
#34 Gossard – 7
#40 Deters – 4
#10 Coffey – 3
#24 Kindred – 5
Total – 36 (FG% - 27.5)(FT% - 78.5 11/14)

Miami East
#3 Hickman – 14
#5 Karadak – 6
#20 Carey – 10
#32 Mitchell – 8
#42 Dunivan – 3
#15 J. Hershberger – 2
#22 Beard – 7
Total – 50 (FG% 39.4)(FT % 64 16/25)

3 Point Goals
Waynesville – 1 (Williams)
Miami East – 4 (Hickman, Carey, Dunivan, Karadak)