URBANA — Bellefontaine’s mettle was tested here Friday and the Chiefs responded with a gritty victory.
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Bellefontaine’s Dawsin Tillman glides to the hoop in front of Urbana’s Levi Boettcher during Friday’s game at Urbana. (EXAMINER PHOTO | MATT HAMMOND) |
Bellefontaine led by six points at halftime, lost the lead during a rough third quarter and then regained it in the late stages of the final period to pull out a 43-40 victory over the host Hillclimbers in a Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail division boys basketball game.
“The bottom line is this is a gritty group of kids,” said Bellefontaine head coach Jason Calton. “When we had to get big stops and get big rebounds, we did it. It was a gritty effort. It wasn’t perfect basketball by any means, but a win like this is a big confidence booster.”
Bellefontaine is now 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the CBC. Urbana drops to 3-2, 1-1.
The Chiefs led by as many as nine points in the first half and took a 24-18 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
But Urbana jumped back into the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Chiefs 13-5 to move in front 31-29.
“Our offense went stagnant and we stopped taking care of the basketball,” said Calton of the third-quarter struggles. “We had too many turnovers in the third quarter.”
Bellefontaine did not lead again until 4:27 remaining in the game on a bucket by Spencer George inside. That put the Chiefs up 35-33.
Urbana tied the game up on its next possession with a basket by Jace Underwood.
The Chiefs’ Dawsin Tillman followed with a jumper and George converted a three-point play with 3:05 remaining to give Bellefontaine a 40-35 lead.
Urbana countered with a 5-0 spurt on a basket by Levi Boettcher and a three-pointer by Underwood at the 1:35 mark to knot the score at 40-40.
Tillman put the Chiefs back in front by banking in a runner from the side with 59 seconds left.
The ball then changed hands twice without either team scoring.
Urbana had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds as Underwood got free and drove to the basket. However, a layup attempt bounced off the rim and the Chiefs got the rebound. Hayes Roebuck was fouled with 3.2 seconds remaining.
Roebuck made the front end of a 1-and-1 to make the score 43-40. The second attempt missed, with Urbana getting the rebound and calling a timeout under the basket with 2.5 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, the Hillclimbers tried to throw a pass to mid-court, but the ball was knocked away by Bellefontaine’s Jack Clement and time expired.
“We knew we had to rebound and play solid defense,” said Bellefontaine’s Roebuck, who shared the team lead in scoring with 12 points. “Those two things made the difference at the end of the game for us.”
Tillman, a senior guard, also had 12 points for the Chiefs.
“When the game is on the line like that, I just try to get out of the way and let our veterans use their experience,” said Calton. “I have confidence in those guys at all times.”
Junior center Spencer George had six points and Jack Clement chipped in five for Bellefontaine.
The Chiefs also won the junior varsity and freshman games.
In the reserve contest, Bellefontaine won 56-51. Drew Jackson led the Chiefs with 21 points and Donovan Dinovo had 12 points.
Bellefontaine’s freshman squad prevailed 52-31. Carter Sterling paced the winners with 15 points and Grant Smith had 14 points.
Bellefontaine is back in action Friday at Kenton Ridge.