St. Vincent-St Mary 78, Triway 38
CANTON: St. Vincent-St. Mary met little resistance in ending Triway’s season and winning a Division II sectional title Friday night at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
No play better symbolized this game than when Triway’s 5-foot-7, 145-pound, sophomore guard Jordon Miller tried his best to give a foul and prevent St. V-M’s 6-foot-6, 215-pound senior forward Nick Wells from scoring.
Miller clobbered Wells and then wound up on his backside well beyond the baseline. Wells powered through contact and converted the layup with 2:38 left in the first half, and the Irish led 35-10 at the break.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do,” Triway coach Keith Snoddy said. “We wanted to spread out and run motion offense wide and make 40 passes if we needed to get an open shot.”
St. Vincent-St. Mary (15-9) was unfazed and quickly wore down the undersized Titans.
“They wanted to shorten the game and I thought our guys did the right thing,” St. V-M coach Dru Joyce said. “We focused. We took away the back-door cuts that they were trying to execute.”
The only mistake the Irish made was having six players on the floor and being whistled for a technical foul.
“No disrespect to my kids, but we were completely outmanned,” Snoddy said.
V.J. King (13 points), Jarel Woolridge (11), Fransohn Bickley (11) and Wells (10) were in double figures for St. V-M.
Tuslaw 54, Northwest 51
Tuslaw’s Division II tournament run continued with a thrilling win over Northwest.
Junior wing Josh Getz fired in a career-high 23 points and 6-foot-5 senior center K.C. Meyer added 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in leading the Mustangs to their 15th win and their first sectional title since 2001.
However, it was senior Corey Brewer’s 3-pointer from the left corner with 30 seconds left that lifted Tuslaw to victory.
“I had confidence in my shot,” said Brewer, who overcame early foul trouble to make two fourth-quarter 3-pointers. “I wanted this game so bad.”
Having upset No. 1 seed Canton South in the first round, Tuslaw (15-9) will prepare for vaunted St. Vincent-St. Mary (15-9) in a district semifinal at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday.
“We’ve been the underdog twice already, so you just come out and play your game, and hope for the best,” Brewer said.
With less than two minutes to play, Tuslaw led 48-40, but Northwest would not go quietly. Junior Nathan Haut stoked the Indians’ comeback with two 3-pointers.
After junior Jackson Schultz made two free throws to cut the Indians’ deficit to 50-48, Schultz stole the ball back for Northwest and junior Tristan Mullane was fouled while banking in a layup with a minute to go.
Mullane’s free throw gave the Indians a 51-50 lead and set the stage for Brewer’s big shot.
“It worked out perfectly,” said Tuslaw coach Kevin Lower, moments after his team eliminated his brother’s squad. “K.C. set a great screen and Brewer knocked it down when it counted.”
The Mustangs used an 11-0 run in the first half and led 26-20 at the break.
“The frustrating thing for us is this is our fifth game that has kind of ended this way,” Northwest coach Mike Lower said.
Junior Andrew Colon paced Northwest (11-12) with 12 points. Mullane and junior Jeremy Mundell each had 10.
Sophomore Parker Carmichael had 12 points to lead Triway (5-18).
