“It slowed them down a little bit,” Cantrell said. “In my two years, it’s the first time we’ve put in a zone, but you gotta do what you gotta do when you play all guards.”
Junior guard Luke Kornett had a game-high 19 points and 6-foot-5 senior post Max Newhouse added 14 as Newton improved to 13-9 overall. They advanced to play fourth-seeded Franklin Monroe at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Piqua. The Jets — who advanced after beating Fairlawn 58-28 — won the previous matchup between the two Western Ohio Athletic Conference squads on Jan. 17.
“Winning here at Piqua is never easy,” Cantrell said. “It’s never easy. This is the gauntlet and you have to push through it. Crazy things have happened, but you have to prepare kids and get them confident.”
Sophomore Cooper Hardy scored eight of his team-high 10 points in the fourth quarter as Cedarville finished its season 14-9.
“I felt like we missed a lot of open shots, so that hurt that we didn’t shoot well tonight,” said Cedarville coach Ryan Godlove. “We’ve got some guys injured and we definitely missed our big man (sophomore Nate Terrell) and we got into some foul trouble, which hurt us even more. I felt missing shots and foul trouble really hurt us tonight.”
Cedarville led 20-15 at the half and took its biggest lead of the game at 29-20 on a layup by junior Brett Haemmerle early in the fourth quarter.
Newton ramped up the pressure with its 2-3 zone, forcing turnovers and getting buckets in transition. They went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to one point on a 3-pointer by sophomore Trenton Robinson with about four minutes remaining.
“Getting stops and turning defense into offense is what was big for us down the stretch,” Cantrell said.
Newton took the lead on back-to-back baskets by Newhouse, but Hardy responded with a 3-pointer to make it 34-32. Newton followed with a 6-0 run to grab a 38-34 lead with less than a minute to go. Hardy hit another 3-pointer to cut the lead to one point and Cedarville stole the inbounds pass, but missed a shot to take the lead.
With 12.3 seconds left, Newton senior Brady Wackler was fouled and made the first free throw to make it 39-37. He missed the second free throw, but was able to grab the rebound. Cedarville fouled Kornet, who hit two free throws to seal the victory.
“Defensively, that’s how we win games,” (We knew) we had to keep these dudes in the 40s to have a chance because we are kind of limited at times, but when it came down the stretch, doing what we do (defensively) is what got us back into it.”
After starting the season 6-7, Cedarville won eight of its last 10 games, earning a share of its second straight Ohio Heritage Conference South Division title. They’ll graduate one senior, Ryan Reed.
“I felt like the guys gave a good effort,” Godlove said. “I’m proud of them. I thought we had a great season. I’m really proud of our senior Ryan Reed. We have a lot to be proud of, it’s just not the way we wanted it to end.”
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