The Oakwood Lumberjacks hit six 3-point shots in the first quarter to build a 20-9 lead they never relinquished in a 59-39 victory over the Northridge Polar Bears in the opening round of the Dayton Division II Sectional basketball tournament.
As it turns out the Jacks had a little extra motivation for getting off to a fast start.
Back on February 4th, a night after winning the Southwestern Buckeye League Championship by defeating rival Bellbrook, Oakwood overcame 18 turnovers in a hard fought point win over the visiting Bears.
The next day, Dayton area coaches gathered to chose where to place their teams in the Dayton tournament brackets.
Oakwood was voted a number 8 seed. That left Stone with a tough choice.
“It’s DII in Dayton,” he said. “That’s just what it is. Where do you go? There isn’t anyplace to go hide.”
The top seeds, Chaminade Julienne, Dunbar, Alter, Tippecanoe, Meadowdale, Carroll, and Ponitz had chosen their spots in the difficult district.
But Stone had a plan.
In January, Oakwood had been beaten by host Fairmont 52-50 at Trent Arena in Kettering. Their next game was a 3-point win over Division III powerhouse Preble Shawnee in the Flyin’ to the Hoop Showcase, also at Trent.
“By design, we had played two games at Trent Arena in the regular season, Stone explained. “So, we wanted to play at Trent. It is close to home. We wanted to play here three times. We kinda like coming here.”
Shortly after Stone’s choice to open the tourney at Trent, it came Northridge Head Coach Jeff Lisath’s turn to pick a bracket spot.
“He chose us,” Stone pointed out. “They had made us look bad in what was probably our most unsound game of the season execution wise. We had 18 turnovers. So, I don’t blame him for picking us. But, yes, 100% yes. I showed our kids that they had lots of other places to go but they chose us. It was some extra motivation for us. “Playing a 14-8 team in the first round of the tournament when your 18-4 is interesting. You know what I mean?”
Oakwood controlled every aspect of the rematch, with Junior Aiden Jacomet hitting four 3-pointers on his way to a game high 14 points. Southwestern Buckeye League Player of the Year Will Maxwell added 13 to go with 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Senior Luke Tucker came off the bench to hit 2 threes and tallied 10 points. Junior PJ Bremner added 9, Senior Ian Ganow had 6 points and added 5 assists. Senior Ethan Stone buried a 3 as did Sophomore Luke Rubin.
In all Oakwood hit twelve 3-pointers spread over a balanced six different players.
“We’ve laughed at times about our shooting,” Stone explained. “Sometimes we are just insanely hot. But we’ve won games like against Wyoming where we were 1 for 12. So we have found a way to win in different ways. That is the nice part. We do not have to hit ten 3’s to win a game. After the Wyoming game, teams started focusing on Will even more and our kids have stepped up and said okay, we can still play.”
The Lumberjacks, now 19-4 will take another trip down Far Hills Ave. on Tuesday night for a 5:30 tilt with second seeded Dunbar.
The Wolverines (17-6) saw Franklin score the game’s first seven points before running off a 46-9 streak in a 77-32 win. Franklin’s Sophomore Kai Cook had all of his teams’ first 21 points and finished the night with 25.
Coach Stone knows he and his team have some work to do before then.
I’m being honest,” Stone confessed. “My coaches asked me about Dunbar. I have watched zero Dunbar film because our focus was Northridge. The moment you start sitting here looking ahead then you’re done for the year.”
As it turns out the Jacks had a little extra motivation for getting off to a fast start.
Back on February 4th, a night after winning the Southwestern Buckeye League Championship by defeating rival Bellbrook, Oakwood overcame 18 turnovers in a hard fought point win over the visiting Bears.
The next day, Dayton area coaches gathered to chose where to place their teams in the Dayton tournament brackets.
Oakwood was voted a number 8 seed. That left Stone with a tough choice.
“It’s DII in Dayton,” he said. “That’s just what it is. Where do you go? There isn’t anyplace to go hide.”
The top seeds, Chaminade Julienne, Dunbar, Alter, Tippecanoe, Meadowdale, Carroll, and Ponitz had chosen their spots in the difficult district.
But Stone had a plan.
In January, Oakwood had been beaten by host Fairmont 52-50 at Trent Arena in Kettering. Their next game was a 3-point win over Division III powerhouse Preble Shawnee in the Flyin’ to the Hoop Showcase, also at Trent.
“By design, we had played two games at Trent Arena in the regular season, Stone explained. “So, we wanted to play at Trent. It is close to home. We wanted to play here three times. We kinda like coming here.”
Shortly after Stone’s choice to open the tourney at Trent, it came Northridge Head Coach Jeff Lisath’s turn to pick a bracket spot.
“He chose us,” Stone pointed out. “They had made us look bad in what was probably our most unsound game of the season execution wise. We had 18 turnovers. So, I don’t blame him for picking us. But, yes, 100% yes. I showed our kids that they had lots of other places to go but they chose us. It was some extra motivation for us. “Playing a 14-8 team in the first round of the tournament when your 18-4 is interesting. You know what I mean?”
Oakwood controlled every aspect of the rematch, with Junior Aiden Jacomet hitting four 3-pointers on his way to a game high 14 points. Southwestern Buckeye League Player of the Year Will Maxwell added 13 to go with 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Senior Luke Tucker came off the bench to hit 2 threes and tallied 10 points. Junior PJ Bremner added 9, Senior Ian Ganow had 6 points and added 5 assists. Senior Ethan Stone buried a 3 as did Sophomore Luke Rubin.
In all Oakwood hit twelve 3-pointers spread over a balanced six different players.
“We’ve laughed at times about our shooting,” Stone explained. “Sometimes we are just insanely hot. But we’ve won games like against Wyoming where we were 1 for 12. So we have found a way to win in different ways. That is the nice part. We do not have to hit ten 3’s to win a game. After the Wyoming game, teams started focusing on Will even more and our kids have stepped up and said okay, we can still play.”
The Lumberjacks, now 19-4 will take another trip down Far Hills Ave. on Tuesday night for a 5:30 tilt with second seeded Dunbar.
The Wolverines (17-6) saw Franklin score the game’s first seven points before running off a 46-9 streak in a 77-32 win. Franklin’s Sophomore Kai Cook had all of his teams’ first 21 points and finished the night with 25.
Coach Stone knows he and his team have some work to do before then.
I’m being honest,” Stone confessed. “My coaches asked me about Dunbar. I have watched zero Dunbar film because our focus was Northridge. The moment you start sitting here looking ahead then you’re done for the year.”
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