SPENCERVILLE — A big block and a key put back by Spencerville’s Brady Croft late in the fourth quarter helped propel the Bearcats past a scrappy St. Henry team, 56-49, in the season opener for both squads Friday night.
Croft, who had two blocks, delivered one of the most important blocks in the fourth quarter that stopped one St. Henry surge and then added a key stick back with just under three minutes left in the game to give Spencerville a clutch bucket to give the Bearcats a boost on the offensive end.
Croft, who had just seven points, did most of his damage on the boards by grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds.
“I think our seniors stepped up late and made some really big, big plays,” Bearcat head coach Kevin Sensabaugh said. “The block. I mean that was a lay-up for them and the block turned into a lay-up for us. I think that was the play of the game. No question about it.”
Sensabaugh added that he thought it was a great game to start with but there is plenty of room for improvement.
“It wasn’t one of the prettiest of wins we’ve every had. But early in the season we are kind of learning each other a little bit and we are kind of learning our rotations,” Sensabaugh said. “It was a good experience and we are going to learn a lot from the films.”
Throughout the contest, the Bearcats could never shake the Redskins who continually battled back with 3-pointers and a smothering defense.
The Redskins’ defense was instrumental in getting the Redskins the early 15-11 lead after the first period, However, St. Henry’s inability to connect from 3-point land in the second period allowed the Bearcats to chip away at the Redskins modest lead.
Spencerville’s Dakota Prichard, who finished with a game-high 22 points, tied the score at 15 at the 5:14 mark of the second period when he completed a 3-point play the old fashion way. A second free throw by Prichard on their next possession followed by an inside bucket from Ben Dues and a 3-pointer from Prichard from behind the arc gave the Bearcats a 21-15 advantage.
After opening the second period going 0-for-6 from behind the 3-point arc to open the second stanza, the Redskins finally found their touch when St. Henry connected on back-to-back treys to knot the score at 21-21 with 2:13 left in the first half.
Spencerville ended the second period with a small 4-0 run to go into the lockerroom with a slim 25-21 advantage. In that first half, St. Henry shot just 5 of 19 (26 percent) from behind the 3-point line.
Even though Spencerville’s 2-3 zone defense posed problems for St. Henry, the Bearcats could never open up a lead as the Redskins’ scrappy defense coupled with clutch threes in the third and fourth period prevented Spenceville from going on any serious run. In the third period, Spencerville would never open a lead bigger than six and going into the third period, the Bearcats led 40-35.
Looking to salt the lead, the Bearcats decided to spread the floor early in the fourth quarter, however, the Redskins, who had switched from man-to-man to a 1-3-1 zone continually forced the Bearcats into turnovers and stayed close throughout the final period.
“We just wanted to give them a different look,” said Redskin head coach Eric Rosenback about switching to the zone defense. “We’ve been working on it and Dakota was really getting to the rim and drawing fouls and so we thought if we could get it out of his hands and trap them up high and create chaos and it was chaos and we just couldn’t hit the big shot that we needed.”
And when the Redskins did foul, the Bearcats had trouble converting free throws early in the fourth quarter to extend the lead. Spencerville appeared to have finally found some breathing room when Croft got the big offensive board and then put it back in to give Spencerville a 48-44 advantage with 2:33 left.
However a steal and bucket by Mitch Schwieterman closed the gap to 48-46. But clutch free throwing shooting late in the game finally put the Redskins away. In the final minute the Bearcats were 8 of 8 from the free throw line.
Redskin Ryan Luttimer led the Redskins in scoring with 12 points and Schwieterman added 12. For the game, the Redskins were 9 of 35 (25 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.
“It was ironic because against zones we have really been good in the summer and in the preseason we move the ball around in the perimeter and usually our shooters knocked those down,” Rosenback said. “Give them credit, they made adjustments by going to the zone. We just never quite got going. I thought at some point we would hit two or three in a row to spark the offense and we just didn’t do it.”
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