Springfield won its fourth straight game and advanced to play second-seeded Beavercreek in a D-I district semifinal game at 7 p.m. Friday night at Vandalia. The Beavers overcame a five-point halftime deficit to beat seventh-seeded West Carrollton 64-63.
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Springfield senior Larry Stephens scored 10 points for the Wildcats, who got back to .500 at 12-12. It was the first time Springfield had reached that mark since starting the season 2-2.
“When I came into this situation, we talked about making sure we got to double-digit wins on the season,” Wildcats interim coach Matt Yinger. “We didn’t want to have a single-digit winning season. We found a way to get 10 wins during the regular season. That was our first goal. Then we talked about finishing the season wherever it shakes out over .500 and now we’ve got that opportunity. We’re chipping away at it stone-by-stone.”
The Wildcats saw 11 of their 13 varsity players score a basket in the game, including six players with seven or more points.
“It was nice to see the guys share the ball,” Yinger said. “(Xenia) stayed in a 2-3 zone for most of the game and we talked a lot about trying to share the ball, play together and make the right plays, not jack up early shots. Overall, I was pleased with our offense.”
Springfield hit five 3-pointers in the game, including two from junior Josh Tolliver.
“It feels good, guys are starting to get into a rhythm,” Yinger said. “We’ve continued to hone in on our core values, we’ve worked and tweaked some things, especially seeing as much zone as we have. We’ve really been cognizant of that, making sure we can handle that.”
The Wildcats led 19-14 after one quarter. Springfield turned up the pressure with a full-court press in the second quarter, outscoring the Buccs 17-6. The Wildcats led by 16 at the half.
The Wildcats led 59-32 after three quarters, but gave up 20 points in the fourth quarter.
“This is the time of the year you’ve got to hone in on the fundamentals and I don’t feel like we were always fundamentally sound on that defensive side,” Yinger said. “We talked about that and the guys owned it. They know to win a contest on Friday we’ve got to be better defensively.”
The Wildcats will face Beavercreek for the third time on Friday with a chance to earn their sixth straight trip to a district final game. Springfield beat the Beavers on Feb. 11 on a three-quarter court buzzer-beater by senior Jordan Howard. Beavercreek won the first game 54-48 on Dec. 17.
»WATCH: Springfield’s Howard hits ‘one-in-a-million’ shot
“It’s always fun,” Yinger said. “It’s kind of that rubber match. They feel good where they’re at and we feel good where we’re at. It’s going to be a slugfest.”
Springfield has won four district titles in the last five seasons, including three straight championships. The last time the Wildcats failed to make an appearance at the district finals was in 2014, when the current senior class were sixth graders. Yinger expects his veteran team to be ready.
“The biggest thing is making sure that we control the intangibles that I always talk about — energy, effort and execution,” Yinger said. “We have to make sure we defend. We really have to hang our hat on that.”
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