Chiefs ground Aviators to finish regular season with win

The Chiefs were solid from start to finish to dispatch visiting Vandalia-Butler 50-42 in a non-league makeup game. The contest originally was postponed because of damage to the BHS gym floor from a fitness competition.

Bellefontaine finished the regular season with a 10-12 record. The Chiefs won three out of their last four games.

“You want to be playing your best basketball going into the tournament,” said BHS head coach Henry Stolly. “I do feel like we are playing better basketball right now. We have found an offensive identity and our defense has been pretty solid.”

With a Division I sectional tournament game looming against Northmont on Saturday, the Chiefs were looking for a positive tune-up against the Aviators (4-18).

That is what they received as Hayden Nease (16 points) and Dawsin Tillman (11) led a balanced offense.

“A good sign right now is the play of our veteran guys,” said Stolly. “I think they realize that this is the time of year that you have to step up your game. Hayden has been playing really well, Dawsin has stepped up his game and Isaiah (Miller) and Jacob (Rogan) have been solid for us as well.”

The first half of Monday’s game was closely contested, with the Chiefs up 21-20 at halftime.

The Chiefs built a 27-21 advantage early in the third quarter, but the Aviators scored six straight points to knot the score at 27-27 with 3:47 left in the period.

Bellefontaine answered with a 4-0 spurt and would lead by two (31-29) heading into the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs seized control in the final stanza, going on a 12-0 run to build a 42-30 lead with 4:07 remaining.

“I thought we did a good job of attacking and getting to the free-throw line,” said Stolly. “We went to the foul line 26 times, which is probably a season high. We didn’t shoot a great percentage (62 percent), but we hit some key foul shots down the stretch to build a little bit of a cushion.”

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