Trotwood Pulls Away From Lebanon 68-61

[SFIND]

By Bryant Billing

DAYTON- How do you counter a player who averages 20 rebounds a game? Good question. Many have tried to stop Lebanon's Derek Hellemann, and many have failed. The Trotwood Rams failed, too. So what did they do? The answer was simple enough, shut everyone else down. That is what the Trotwood Rams did. In the end, it earned them a victory. Trotwood (20-3) held on and maintained a lead during several Lebanon surges, and eventually won the title of sectional champions at the University of Dayton Arena 68-61.

It was close from the start.

The game was going back and forth at the start, with Lebanon slightly in the lead. Trotwood went out in front 15-12 with 1:35 left, but the Warriors came back to tie it at 17 at the end of the first quarter.

The game went back and forth until late in the quarter. With Hellemann on the bench towards the end of the quarter, Trotwood was able to make more shots underneath, and they went out in front 35-27 at the end of the second quarter.

But Lebanon wasn't going away.

The Lebanon Warriors slowly crept back in the third quarter. Hellemann made four free-throws with under two minutes left to cut the Rams lead to 47-46, which was the score at the end of the third quarter.

But the Rams were able to hold on and win it.

Trotwood went back out in front 59-54 on a Greg Gainey basket. Trotwood was able to counter every Lebanon basket, and the clock wore down. The Rams sealed the deal when Trotwood guard Aaron Robinson scored on a one-handed dunk off of a steal with with seven seconds left. That put Trotwood up 68-61 which was the final.

Both of these teams gave it all they had, but someone had to lose. Lebanon had their opportunities to win, but they couldn't convert.

Trotwood had a good game defensively. They were able to shut down everyone else inside, with the exception of Hellemann. Lebanon made only four other field goals outside of Hellemann. The Rams also held Lebanon's leading scorer at guard in Kyle Hancharick, holding him to just three points. Greg Gainey (20 points) did a fantastic job of keeping pressure on Hellemann. Gainey brought down nine rebounds as well. The guard play of Aaron Robinson (13 points), Dominick Britt (10) and Brad Cubbie (10) was a big factor as well.

Lebanon was able to keep themselves in the game by making 7 three-pointers to Trotwood's three three-pointers.

Lebanon missed a golden opportunity to close the game at the free-throw line. Lebanon was 12-25 from the free-throw line (48%). To top that off, Lebanon shot 14-43 from the field. Hellemann shot 11-26 from the field, so outside of Hellemann, Lebanon shot 3-17 from the field outside of Hellemann.

When it was all said and done, Lebanon's inability to score inside outside of Helleman was the deciding factor.

Trotwood now advances to the district final for the third year in a row. The Rams will play the winner of the Moeller/Edgewood sectional final next Friday, February 29, at 8:00. The game is at the University of Dayton Arena.

Individual Statistics: Player, 2 Point Shots made/attempted, Total Points. Trotwood- Darion Capers 2-2 4; Duwan Thomas 1-4 4; Aaron Robinson 3-4 13; Chris Pearson 0-0 3; Greg Gainey 8-11 20; Brad Cubbie 4-8 10; Domonick Britt 5-11 10; Nathaniel Halloway 1-1 2; Darnell Tubs 0-0 2. Lebanon- Tyler Gilbert 2-5 12; Jordan Russell 1-4 2; Kyle Hancharick 0-1 3; Justin Logsdon 0-3 4; Bryce Hathaway 0-3 12; Derek Hellemann 11-26 28. Team Statistics: 2 point, 3 point, free-throw, turnovers, rebounds. Trotwood- 23-43 (53%), 3-10 (30%), 12-17 (71%), 9, 20. Lebanon- 14-43 (33%), 7-15 (47%), 12-25 (48%), 11, 27.