Simon Kenton was able to finally shake free from Williamstown in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 32nd District boys basketball tournament semifinal.
The Pioneers led by five with 6:38 left before pulling away for a 69-54 victory, reaching their second straight district championship game.
“I can’t say that I thought we played great. Statistically, we might look okay, but I thought we had our hands on balls that we just didn’t come up with,” Simon Kenton head coach Trent Steiner said. “(We) went 10-of-17 from the free-throw line. At the end of the day, they’re still kids. Kids feel pressure whether it’s pressure put on them by their friends, social media, from the stands, their coaches, the opposing team and a lot of that stuff doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is the 84 by 50 (square inches on the basketball court). That’s where games are won and lost. If it’s lost between the six inches in your head, then we have problems.”
Simon Kenton (15-15) will take on Walton-Verona at 7 p.m. on Friday back at Grant County. The Pioneers lost the regular season game at Walton-Verona, 66-55 on Jan. 12.
The Demons (19-11) stayed in this one with a huge game from their leading scorer in senior guard Colton Feagan with 33 points, making four 3-pointers and all seven free throws. Feagan came into the postseason averaging 29.3 points per game, which is nearly 10 points higher than last year’s impressive 19.3 points per game.
However, Simon Kenton made sure none of Feagan’s teammates got into a comfortable rhythm. The Pioneers employed a number of traps near halfcourt and the sidelines and recorded a number of steals, especially on cross-court passes.
“We knew we had to get it out of (Feagan’s) hands and make somebody else make a play,” Simon Kenton junior point guard Jay Bilton said. “He’s their playmaker. Everything goes through him.”
Williamstown had no answer for Simon Kenton junior post Bode Stone. Stone had a number of offensive putbacks on his way to a team-high 23 points.
“You just have to be strong-willed and just try to score however you can,” Stone said. “I go up even under pressure, try to score, maybe get fouled. We run a ton of contact drills. We have a pad on pushing players trying to help them finish through contact.”
Simon Kenton’s two leading scorers hit double-digits and others contributed in different ways. Bilton scored 13 points hurting Williamstown on drives into the paint and Travis Krohman scored 11 with Jordan Bach coming off the bench and making two threes on his way to eight points.
Williamstown led one time at 7-6 in the first quarter before Simon Kenton scored six straight to finish the quarter up 12-7. Stone hit two shots during that run.
Simon Kenton extended the lead to double figures in the final minute of the first half. Bach made a three and Bilton hit a fast break lay-up to give the Pioneers a 32-21 halftime advantage.
The Pioneers tried to put the game away in the third quarter. They led 43-31 with 1:30 left in the quarter after a Bach steal and score, but Feagan recorded a three-point play then hit two more free throws to trim the Pioneer lead to 43-36.
Feagan then hit two free throws to make it 45-40 Simon Kenton before Stone took over down low scoring seven points over the next two minutes to give the Pioneers a 54-43 advantage with 4:40 left in the game. Two Tysin Weaver scores gave Simon Kenton a 59-44 lead with less than three minutes left and Williamstown only came as close as 13 points the rest of the way.
Simon Kenton and Williamstown have been in the 32nd District together since the 2005-06 season. The Pioneers have lost to the Demons just once during that time in a 66-54 defeat during the regular season on Jan. 17, 2017 at Williamstown.
PIONEERS 69, DEMONS 54
WILLIAMSTOWN — 7-14-15-18 — 54
SIMON KENTON — 12-20-11-26 — 69
Scoring
Williamstown (54) — Feagan 33, Taylor 8, Yangua 6, Morris 5, Faulkner 2
Simon Kenton (69) — Stone 23, Bilton 13, Krohman 11, Bach 8, Weaver 4, Polly 4, Taylor 4, Brown 2
Game Stats
3-Pointers: Williamstown 6, Simon Kenton 3
Free Throws: Williamstown 8/9, Simon Kenton 10/17
Fouls: Williamstown 12, Simon Kenton 13
Records: Williamstown 19-11, Simon Kenton 15-15