The Walton-Verona Bearcats boys basketball team (17-10 overall) has seen the 4-out 1-in Motion offense twice twice in a week’s time to prepare for the most important game of the season Wednesday.
The defending 8th Region champion Oldham County Colonels (17-10) gave the Bearcats issues with their size in senior 6-foot-9-inch center/power forward Hayden Burgess and senior 6-7 small forward Sam Powell. That duo along with sophomore 6-4 guard Max Green made the All-8th Region squad.
But the Bearcats used their balance to overcome the Colonels, 92-89 in overtime making 19 three-pointers. The Bearcats have won six straight entering the postseason.
“This is what we talked about,” said Mike Hester, Walton-Verona Head Coach. “We knew our schedule at the end of the year was going to be tough. We do it every year to prepare us for the postseason.”
The last 10 seconds of overtime featured a wild ending. After Green missed the front end of a one-and-one, Walton-Verona sophomore guard Julian Dixon drove the left baseline and found a cutting senior guard Cameron Christy to put Walton-Verona up 90-89.
“It’s a play we work on all the time,” Christy said. “One player drives baseline and one cuts to the middle. You catch and finish it. That’s all you have to do.”
Many felt the clock ran out. But Oldham County called timeout with 2.5 seconds left. The Colonels tried to throw the ball down to Burgess. But the inbounds pass sailed high to the ceiling giving the ball back to the Bearcats. Sophomore Max Montgomery drew the foul and made both free throws to make the final score with two seconds left.
Oldham County still had a chance to tie the game and send it to a second overtime. Burgess took the pass down the court and found Powell on the left wing for a three-point shot. But it did not go in and the Walton-Verona student section rushed the floor celebrating the win.
“That was huge (Montgomery) making those two free throws,” Hester said. “He completely left his assignment and let Powell get open for a three. Thankfully, it didn’t go in and we were able to pull that one out.”
Walton-Verona beat Dixie Heights, 76-64 a week ago. Dixie Heights features 6-4 senior Billy Wogenstahl in the middle and uses a similar offense to Oldham County.
The Bearcats will have to beat that type of offense to advance to the 8th Region Tournament on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Simon Kenton Pioneers (14-11) have 7-2 junior Gabe Dynes in the middle. Dynes along with some of his teammates and coaches attended the game Friday. Simon Kenton beat host Walton-Verona, 68-58 on Jan. 14.
Walton-Verona put five players in double figures. Their three All-8th Region selections made at least two three-pointers each. Senior guard Brant Smithers scored 25 points making six triples and Christy scored 21 making two triples and six two-point shots. Junior Carter Krohman made three three-pointers on his way to 11 points.
Dixon finished with four three-pointers on his way to 15 points. Montgomery came off the bench to score 14 points making four triples.
The fifth Walton-Verona starter in senior Ethan Gutman scored six points. But he had to defend Burgess and Powell in the post. Powell finished with 30 points and Burgess scored 24. The two made 11 two-pointers each often finishing near the rim. Green added 20 making three triples. Gutman and his teammates did come up with some steals and deflections in the paint.
“We just had to be very physical with them,” Gutman said. “You front the post and let the guy on the back side do his job. That’s the best way we could limit them and try to get the other guys to do more.”
The game did not start off well for Walton-Verona. The Bearcats trailed 20-12 after one quarter and 24-12 to start the second quarter. But they made seven three’s in the quarter to crawl back into the game. Dixon made one from the right wing to give the Bearcats a 36-35 advantage with 1:16 left in the first half.
“Making shots makes things a lot easier for us,” Hester said. “That helped us on the defensive end. We needed to make sure that we got stops. That’s what we preached in the huddle. In that second quarter, we started to get some stops. In the second half, we got to play our style getting up and down a bit.”
Krohman made a three inside a minute to put Walton-Verona up 39-37. But Powell had two scores including a fast-break lay-up off a steal with two seconds left to give Walton-Verona a 41-39 lead at halftime.
The teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 58. Gutman scored two key buckets in the third quarter in the last two minutes, 20 seconds of the quarter.
Down the stretch in the fourth quarter, Montgomery hit a three from the top of the key to put Walton-Verona up 73-72 with 2:11 left in the game. Smithers had a crucial steal and put the Bearcats up 75-73 in the game’s final minute. After Green tied it, Smithers had a shot to win it at the buzzer from the left wing. But the shot did not go down sending the game to overtime.
Smithers hit a three to start the overtime. But the Colonels fought back and built an 89-85 lead with 25.2 seconds left. Christy made a three with 12.5 seconds left in the overtime frame to trim it to 89-88 setting up the end.
The Bearcats won the 32nd District Tournament in 2019 on their way to winning their first 8th Region title since 1942. The Pioneers have won the district tournament crown the last two years.