Van Wert’s Nate Phillips surveys the floor as St. Marys’ Cobain Owens defends during a Thursday Division II district semifinal at Liberty-Benton. See more high school basketball photos at LimaScores.com.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
FINDLAY — Van Wert’s A.J. Proffitt didn’t have time to think. Just shoot.
That is exactly what the senior did as he drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Van Wert past St. Marys, 56-55, in the Division II district semifinal at Liberty-Benton High School Thursday night.
With the win, Van Wert improves to 17-7 and advances to the district finals against Defiance at 7 p.m. Saturday. St. Marys ends its year at 18-6.
Proffitt’s game-winning buzzer, if Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick had his way, may never had happened. With 4.4 seconds left on the clock, St. Marys was up 55-53 after Austin Park hit one of two free throws.
Van Wert’s Aidan Pratt in bounded the ball to Nate Phillips who raced down the court and as he made his way down the center of the court, hit Proffitt in the corner who launched it and sank the clutch trey to gain the victory.
“We were just trying to advance the ball and call a time out at halftcourt and set up another play but we brought the ball to halfcourt and I was open in the corner and he passed it to me and you know me and Nate (Phillips) have a really good connection and usually when Nate passes the ball to me it seems like it goes in and he hit me in the corner. I was fading away a little bit and it went in and it was awesome.”
Laudick praised Proffitt for his attitude throughout the year and his contributions to the team.
“A.J. has been on the short end of stick when it comes to playing time and we have rode him like crazy throughout the season and we know he can make shots and in the past seven or eight games has bought in on both ends of the floor, and for that to happen, for a guy that doesn’t get to start, makes the shot that sends us to the district finals. I am happy for him and our whole team.”
Van Wert had been saddled with losing close games this season, losing six of those contest by three points or less, including a 62-60 loss to St. Marys.
“People keep telling us to keep our heads up in January when we were losing by two and they said it will pay off. It will pay off,” Laudick said. “Tonight it did. I am still trying to process it. I am glad they didn’t grant me my time out. I just saw the ball go through the hoop. I had no idea who shot it. That was all them. That was our seniors making a play.
Laudick added that he did not design the final winner and told the guys to get it and go to half court and then call time out to draw something up. But the players had different ideas.
“Our guys had a great week of practice and bought in to what we were trying to do. We knew Austin Parks would score a million and we had to try and contain everybody else.
Laudick praised his team’s patience on offense to find the open shot and added that rebounding played an important role and despite the Roughriders owning a sizable height advantage.
Van Wert’s Proffitt, who came off the bench, led the club in scoring with 12 points as he hit four 3-pointers. Garett Gunter added 10 points. Pratt finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
Defensively, St. Marys relied heavily on Parks who finished with 30 points and five rebounds, however, no other Roughrider broke the double digit barrier in scoring.
Defiance 65, Shawnee 58
Defiance held off a late Shawnee surge to record a 65-58 victory in the Division II district semifinal Thursday.
Defiance (21-4) owned a 33-29 lead at halftime and broke increased that lead to double digits in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Indians sliced the lead to 54-52 late in the fourth quarter but Shawnee’s comeback fell short.
Defiance’s Brayden Shaw led all scorers with 25 points and Cayden Zachariah added 18 points. For Shawnee Beckett Bertke poured in 18 points and Austin MIller chipped in 11 points.
Shawnee finishes its season with a 12-14 mark.
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Reach Jose Nogueras at 567-242-0468.
