“We had some challenges in that streak. They just found a way. A different guy would play well on a certain night. A Tristan Singer would have a big game, or a Joe Wright. It was nice to have guys score consistently.”
The Hillclimbers finished the season 21-2, won the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division and a Division II sectional championship, and Dixon is the 2011-12 Springfield News-Sun All-Area Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. He is the seventh different coach in the last seven years to win the award, and he is the first Urbana coach since at least 1987 to earn the honor.
“Our team just fit together really well,” Dixon said. “Our guys understood their roles. They accepted those roles and did a fantastic job executing those roles.”
Urbana started the season 2-0 and then lost 50-41 to Tecumseh on Dec. 13. It won its next 19 games and didn’t lose again until the district final on March 1, 57-41 to Trotwood-Madison.
Senior Zach Stillings, the All-Area Player of the Year, led the way with 19.7 points per game, but he had help.
The Singer brothers, senior Karl and junior Tristan, combined to average 22.2 points per game. Joe Wright averaged 5.5 points and led the team in assists (5.7 per game) and steals (1.8). Alex Niswonger averaged 4.6 points and led the team in 3-point percentage (43.3).
The team’s performance this season wasn’t a surprise. This was Urbana’s fourth straight winning season, something the program hadn’t accomplished since the 1960s, Dixon said. That bodes well for the future.
“Right now we’re reflecting on this season and trying to enjoy it,” Dixon said. “You always have one eye to the future. We’re losing two giant parts of our team (Stillings and Karl Singer). We’ve got everyone else back. Our JV team won 15 games. We’re trying to build a program, not just a couple-year stretch where we’re a solid team.”
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