Ohatchee stuns top seed
- Updated: February 3, 2015
Boys roundup: Glass a pain to Glencoe in OT; Donoho strong in its opener
Freshman guard Ben Glass (second from left) listens intently to Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn’s instructions during a game earlier this season.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
GLENCOE — Freshman guard Ben Glass won’t soon forget his first post-season game with the Ohatchee varsity, and the Indians won’t forget his contribution to it.
Glass scored five points in overtime – a 3-pointer to open the scoring and a big steal and layup to extend the lead – as the Indians upset top-seeded Glencoe 57-53 in the opening round of the Class 3A Area 11 Tournament Tuesday night.
The Indians (8-17) now play second-seeded Westbrook Christian at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the area championship. They are guaranteed their first trip to the sub-regional since 2008.
“It felt great to be able to play up there as a ninth-grader and make those plays,” Glass said on the happy bus ride home. “I’ll remember this forever. This is huge for us.”
Despite the disparity in the seeds, the Indians felt good about their chances. They played the Yellow Jackets tight in both their regular-season losses and felt they matched up with them better than the other teams in the field.
In fact, the Yellow Jackets needed a layup by Pace Ozmint with three seconds left in regulation just to send the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Glass nailed a 3 off a screen to open the scoring. Later, he stole the ball off Jackets’ leading scorer Dalton Roberts, drove the floor for a layup and got fouled. He missed the free throw, but the Indians still had a four-point lead. They sealed it with five free throws.
“We’ve been saying all year we were young, but we feel like we’ve been playing our best basketball over the last three weeks,” Ohatchee head coach Bryant Ginn said. “I thought we matched up well with them. At the same time we knew it was going to be a physically tough game and we’d have to make plays. I thought Ben was big.”
Glass finished with 11 points in the game, as did Dylan Yates. Six other players scored and in a tight game as this was, the Indians needed all of them. Roberts led all scorers with 16 points. Ozmint had 11.
“I feel like this is the least talented basketball team Ohatchee’s had in years, but it’s the most team-oriented team since 2008,” Indians assistant coach Casey Howell said. “No one gets upset about playing time. It is not about ‘I,’ it’s about us. If I had to summarize this team in one sentence it would be ‘They never quit.’”
Class 1A, Area 12
Donoho 50, Appalachian 36
Justin Foster’s 14 first-half points helped Donoho open a 13-point halftime lead and spark the Falcons to victory.
The Falcons (9-13) now play fourth-ranked and top-seeded host Sacred Heart Thursday at 5 p.m.
Donoho was dominant inside and played an aggressive defense in shutting out the Eagles 13-0 in the first quarter. It was the third victory of the year for Donoho over the Eagles.
Appalachian came out hot to start the second half and cut Donoho’s lead to 24-18, forcing Falcons coach Shannon Felder to call a time out.
“I told them the reason we did so well in the first half was because we played good sound defense,” Felder said. “I called time out to stop their run and felt like the kids understood that if we didn’t get off to a good start in the second half and get off our tails that we were going to lose this game.”
The Falcons got the message. They returned from the time out with an 18-4 run to run their lead to 44-22.
Foster, who is set to sign a football scholarship with Samford Wednesday morning, finished with 20 points. Schuyler Buckner added 10, with eight coming from the free throw line.
“We knew it would be hard for them to stop Justin inside,” Felder said, “and our kids did a better job of getting the ball inside tonight in a place where he could do something with it. – Brant Locklier
BOYS BOX SCORES
Donoho 50, Appalachian 36
APPALACHIAN — James Dean 1 1-2 4, Trey Calvert 2 0-0 6, Dalton McCay 1 0-0 3, Jose Rivera 3 0-0 6, Brian Hawkins 0 1-2 1, Roberto Hernandez 2 0-0 5, Jerald Pantoja 3 0-0 7, Skylar Roberts 2 0-2 4, Christopher Hernandez 0 0-0 0, William Noles 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 2-6 36.
DONOHO (9-13) — Dylan Dunaway 0 0-0 0, Bret Holmes 1 0-0 2, Garrett Steed 2 1-3 5, Ross Svensen 0 0-0 0, Schuyler Buckner 1 8-12 10, Rob Clausen 3 0-0 6, Parker Morgan 1 3-4 5, Justin Foster 9 2-7 20, Wilson Russell 0 2-2 2. Totals 17 16-28 50.
Appalachian 0 9 13 14 — 36
Donoho 13 9 11 17 — 50
3-point goals: Appalachian 6 (Dean, Calvert 2, McCay, R. Hernandez, Pantoja). Total fouls: Appalachian 19, Donoho 8. Fouled out: Roberts.
Ohatchee 57, Glencoe 53 (OT)
OHATCHEE (8-17) — Dylan Yates 3 3-4 11, Ben Glass 4 1-3 11, Micah Lee 3 1-5 8, Owen Hale 0 2-2 2, Austin Tucker 3 0-0 6, Brian Jennings 3 3-4 9, Tristan Woodall 1 1-2 4, C.J. Ray 2 2-2 6. Totals 19 13-22 57.
GLENCOE — Garrison Clowdus 4 0-1 9, Andrew Willis 3 2-4 8, Pace Ozmint 3 5-7 11, Craig Barkley 0 0-0 0, Dalton Roberts 6 4-6 16, Seth Napper 1 0-0 2, Grant Griffin 0 2-4 2, Jeff Ford 1 3-3 5. Totals 18 16-25 53.
Ohatchee 7 16 11 8 15 — 57
Glencoe 11 11 10 10 11 — 53
3-point goals: Ohatchee 6 (Yates 2, Glass 2, Lee, Woodall); Glencoe 1 (Clowdus). Total fouls: Ohatchee 21, Glencoe 23. Fouled out: Clowdus, Willis.
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