Top-seeded Walton-Verona knew their 32nd District tournament battle with Grant County would be anything but a cakewalk for several reasons.
Namely, fourth-seeded Grant County featured senior three-level scoring guard Spencer Breeden and the game took place in the comfort of their home gym. Breeden may have finished with 31, but the Bearcats got the last laugh in a 63-50 victory to avenge last year’s season-ending loss to the Braves.
The Bearcats hit 11-of-12 free throws in the closing minutes of the contest to help pull away.
“We didn’t play our best game, but down the stretch, we found a way to win the basketball game and at this time of the year, that’s all that matters,” Walton-Verona head coach Mike Hester said. “Survive and advance. It was nice to be the one seed and get to play on Tuesday to kind of get these nerves out of the way. Now that we have one under our belt, hopefully can come out Friday from the tip and be ready to go.”
Walton-Verona (22-9) will face either Simon Kenton or Williamstown on Friday at 7 p.m. back at Grant County for the district championship. Those two play on Wednesday night.
The Bearcats consistently found the matchups to dribble into the paint and make things happen at the rim. Senior Julian Dixon gave the Braves the most problems scoring 24 points.
“It was everything,” Dixon said. “On these Grant County rims, we can’t bank on hitting jump shots, so we had to start off early getting into the paint, build some confidence up with the lay-ups then we can spread it out with some jump shots.”
Walton-Verona displayed its usual scoring balance. Aaron Gutman scored 14 points and Zach Smith scored 10 with Landon Bach making six free throws in the final 1:32 of the game on his way to eight points.
“I think free throws are 90% toughness,” Bach said. “It’s really just whoever wants to step up and make them. We shoot free throws every single day in practice. We have to take time out for that. It comes up big in games like this.”
The Bearcats made plenty more trips to the free-throw line than the hosts. Walton-Verona hit 22-of-29 free throws and Grant County made just 2-of-4.
For all the struggles against Breeden, Walton-Verona did hold down Grant County’s second leading scorer. The Bearcats limited Benjamin Bosse to four points after he came in entering 14.4 per game.
Walton-Verona took the lead for good with 4:52 left in the game at 47-45 after Gutman made two free throws. Breeden hit one of his four triples on the night to make it 52-49 with 1:45 to play. A Breeden free throw made it 54-50 with 1:19 to play, but the Bearcats closed on a 9-0 run from there.
“Breeden is a three-level scorer. We did all we could to slow him down,” Hester said. “We threw everybody at him. I think at one point, we had all five guys with a chance to guard him. He’s a great high school player and he’s probably going to play somewhere at the next level and be a great player there as well.”
Grant County started the game hot, building an 11-3 lead before Walton-Verona responded with a 9-2 run to trim the lead to 13-12 after one. The two went into the half tied at 28.
The game stayed tight throughout the third quarter and midway through the fourth quarter. Grant County led 45-40 after a Breeden three, but Smith converted a three-point play and Dixon had a steal and score to tie the game at 45 with 5:42 left in the game to start the Walton surge.
Grant County (13-18) will miss the region tournament for the first time in three years. The Braves finished district runner-up to Simon Kenton last year and to Walton-Verona two years ago.
BEARCATS 63, BRAVES 50
GRANT COUNTY — 13-15-12-10 — 50
WALTON-VERONA — 12-16-10-25 — 63
Scoring
Grant County (50) — Breeden 31, Gordon 8, Hucker 5, Bosse 4, Utter 2
Walton-Verona (63) — Dixon 24, Gutman 14, Smith 10, Bach 8, Montgomery 7
Game Stats
3-Pointers: Grant County 6, Walton-Verona 3
Free Throws: Grant County 2/4, Walton-Verona 22/29
Fouls: Grant County 18, Walton-Verona 12
Records: Grant County 13-18, Walton-Verona 22-9