“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Indians coach Ryan Godlove. “That’s probably the best overall 32 minutes that we’ve played this year. We’ve had great spurts. It was nice to see them against a good team put a whole game together. I thought we were tough on the defensive end. Offensively, we had multiple guys knocking down shots and handling the basketball. I was just really proud of our guys effort and execution.”
Juniors Tyler Cross and Braden Criswell each scored 11 points as Cedarville improved to 16-4 and 12-2 in the OHC South Division. The Indians pulled to within one game of the Rams (13-1, 16-3) with two division games to play.
“It was a good team win,” Koning said. “We played together as a team really well. Everybody got good looks and everybody played really well. It was good to see.”
Senior Carter Williams scored 14 points and senior Ethen Caudill added 12 points for Greeneview, which saw its 11-game winning streak snapped.
“This is the way you want these games to be when it means a lot,” said Rams coach Kyle Fulk. “Both teams are rivals. It was a great atmosphere and a fun game, but obviously we wanted to be on the other side. It was a fun game.”
The Rams led 10-5 early in the first quarter, but the Indians went on a 14-7 run to end the period, taking a 19-12 lead.
Koning scored 10 of his 15 first-half points in the second quarter as the Indians extended their lead to 32-24 at the half.
“Everybody was playing well and it was just opening up things for everybody,” Koning said. “I was able to take advantage of the opportunities I got.”
The senior missed the first game against the Rams this season with a calf injury, Godlove said. He’s scored 24 or more points in five of his last seven games.
“It hurt us big time (the last game),” Godlove said. “It was nice having him back. I thought he played his heart out and left everything out there. … He’s been a great player for us on varsity for the last three years. He did everything well for us tonight. I thought he rebounded well, made great passes out of their traps and hit some big shots for us.”
The Indians extended their lead to as many as 11 points in the third quarter. The Rams, however, went on a 7-0 run to end the period, cutting Cedarville’s lead to 46-42.
The Indians pushed the lead back to nine points at 55-46 on a bucket by junior Mason Johnson (nine points) with 5:30 remaining.
Greeneview cut the lead to one possession at 57-54 on a 3-pointer by Williams with about three minutes remaining.
“It’s exactly what I expect from our kids,” Fulk said. “They compete no matter whether we’re down 20 or up 20, they’ll compete. I knew there was a chance if we could just string some stops together. We did and we cut it down, we just couldn’t quite make enough to get over that hump.”
The Rams wouldn’t get any closer. Cedarville senior Jack Czerniak hit a 3-pointer on the Indians next possession to push the lead back to 60-54.
After Williams hit two free throws to make it 60-56 with 1:45 remaining, Criswell grabbed an offensive rebound and converted to make it 62-56.
“We talked to them before the game about fighting for every inch,” Fulk said. “There’s two times they drove in for wide open layups and missed them and then got the offensive rebound and put them back. Those are chances against Cedarville you can’t give them or they’re going to put you away and they did that.”
Greeneview hosts Southeastern on Friday and travels to Catholic Central on Feb. 10. The Rams need one win to clinch at least a share of the title and two wins to win the title outright.
Defending OHC South champion Catholic Central (13-6, 10-4) entered Tuesday’s games with a shot to earn a share of the OHC title, but fell to Southeastern 63-59.
Cedarville travels to Greenon on Friday and hosts Madison Plains on Feb. 10. Cedarville needs to win both games and get some help from another division rival to claim a share of the league title.
“We’ve got to worry about what’s in our control,” Godlove said. “We’ve got two games left against two good opponents. We feel like in the OHC, if you don’t show up, you can get beat. We’re going to enjoy the win for 24 hours and get ready for Greenon on Friday.”
About the Author