Shawnee advances to regional semifinal

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DAYTON — With a 61-52 victory Tuesday over the Williamsburg Wildcats at U.D. Arena, the Preble Shawnee Arrows advanced to the Division III regional semifinal against New Madison Tr-Village.

That game will be played Wednesday, March 13 at Trent Arena in Kettering at 5:30 p.m.

The Wildcats swept through the regular season with a 12-0 record in the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference and 20-2 overall. Williamsburg had won 10 straight games including three in postseason entering Tuesday’s showdown with Arrows.

Preble Shawnee ended regular season play 11-0 in the Western Ohio Athletic Conference and 19-3 overall and was riding a five game win streak entering the district final.

Both teams held brief leads during the first quarter. Senior forward Alex Ervin buried a three-pointer to put the Wildcats up 9-6, but Shawnee got a jump shot and a layup by Isaac Blankenship to take a 10-9 lead midway through the period.

After Williamsburg committed a traveling violation Mason Shrout buried a trifecta, Logan Hawley scored a dunk and Blankenship scored again to give Shawnee a 17-11 advantage entering the second stanza.

Both teams intensified defensive pressure in the second quarter. When the Wildcats pressured Shrout, he dished the ball to Blankenship who scored on three consecutive possessions, the last from beyond the arc to put the Arrows up 24-15.

Shawnee coach Jake Turner credited Shrout for his talent of distributing the ball to his teammates when they had an open look at the basket.

After the Wildcats missed two free throws and a three-point attempt, Case Roell scored to boost the lead to 11 with Williamsburg calling timeout with 4:04 remaining in the half.

Brody Fisher scored, drew a foul and converted the bonus shot for Williamsburg while Pierce Ayers sank two free throws and J.J. Miller buried a trey. The Arrows got a basket by Hawley and a free throw by Knox Mills to hold a 29-23 halftime lead.

The Arrows led by as many as 11 points in the third period but the Wildcats fought back. Miller buried a trifecta at the buzzer to close the gap to 42-39.

Miller came up with a steal and scored a layup to make it a one point game, 42-41 to open the fourth quarter. Shawnee went on an 11-0 run capped by a steal and layup by Shrout to take a 53-41 lead.

Ervin nailed a three-pointer to end the Wildcats scoring drought and Williamsburg called timeout with three minutes remaining. After the timeout Ervin came up with a steal and scored a layup to close the gap to 53-46.

The Wildcats capped an 8-0 run with a trey by Brody Fisher. Shawnee countered with baskets by Brody Morton and Brayden Robinette to take a 57-49 lead with less than 40 seconds remaining.

Williamsburg’s last basket came on a three-pointer by Ervin. Morton and Shrout both sank a pair of free throws down the stretch to cap the 61-52 victory.

“That’s a really good team over there. They are 23-2 for a reason,” Turner said in regard to Williamsburg. “We knew they weren’t going away and we knew they were going to keep fighting. I was just proud of our guys for holding onto the lead and finding a way to win.

“I think we did a good job and we never let the score get tied,” Turner added. “Our senior leadership and even our juniors who have been in this situation before playing in tournament games and the experience they gained, I think was huge down the stretch for us.”

PREB 17 12 13 19 – 61

WMB 11 12 16 13 – 52

Preble Shawnee: Brayden Robinette 3-0-6, Brody Morton 3-2-9, Isaac Blankenship 6-0-13, Mason Shrout 6-5-19, Logan Hawley 5-1-11, Knox Mills 0-1-1, Case Roell 1-0-2. Totals: 24-9-61.

Williamsburg: Kaleb Brogan 1-0-3, J.J. Miller 5-4-16, Alex Ervin 6-0-15, Brody Fisher 5-1-12, Pierce Ayers 1-3-6. Totals: 18-8-52.

Three-point field goals: Shawnee 4 (Shrout 2, Blankenship, Morton); Williamsburg 8 (Ervin 3, Miller 2, Ayers, Brogan, Fisher).

Records: Shawnee 22-3, Williamsburg 23-3.

Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].

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