Springboro senior Will Yates had a game-high 32 points, hitting six 3-pointers and senior Maxim Butler added 21 points, hitting five 3-pointers, as the Panthers (18-6) won their fifth straight game. They advanced to face Moeller at 1 p.m. Sunday at Xavier University’s Cintas Center in Cincinnati.
Senior Cabrae Byrd had 18 points, sophomore EJ Rice had 17, senior Bryce Washington had 15 and junior Zy’Aire Fletcher added 10 as Springfield finished its season 3-19.
The Wildcats upset second-seeded Beavercreek 71-65 in overtime in a second-round game last week to advance to a district semifinal for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
“We had two weeks of great preparation heading into the tournament,” said Wildcats coach Matt Yinger. “It was a big win against Beavercreek and we felt really good about that. We parlayed that with another week of hard work. I felt like we were really prepared.”
Springfield cut the Springboro lead to 26-20 on a 3-pointer by freshman CJ Wallace early in the second quarter. The Panthers extended the lead back to 11 points, but a dunk by Rice with less than a minute remaining made it 34-27 at the half.
“I felt like we played really well in the first half, down seven at the half and were playing with a lot of effort, energy, urgency, sharing the ball and doing a lot of good things,” Yinger said. “In the second half, it continued, but they hit some shots and we didn’t hit quite as many shots.”
Springboro went on a 10-4 run to start the third quarter to make it 44-31, forcing a Springfield timeout. The Panthers hit eight 3-pointers in the period — including three each by Yates and Butler — to increase their lead to 20 points.
“Yates and Butler were just in the zone tonight,” Yinger said.
The Wildcats continued to fight throughout the fourth quarter, but were unable to get any closer than 11 points.
Springboro coach Brian Bales was impressed with Springfield’s play and believes “they’re going to be a problem” moving forward, he said.
“They had a great game against Beavercreek, and we told our guys don’t take them lightly,” Bales said. “They’ve got athletes, and they believed. ... That was a good win for us.”
The Wildcats will return five varsity players, including four who started at some point this season.
“We’re excited about the future and excited about the way we compete,” Yinger said. “We’re excited about getting this Wildcat culture back to where we want to be competing to win district titles and so forth. We’re speaking that into existence. In the offseason, we’re going to continue to buy into four letters and that’s work. That’s what we believe in and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Yinger praised the program’s three seniors — Byrd, Washington and Markel Wade — for their leadership over the last few weeks.
“It could’ve been easy to pack it in and give up and say basketball season is over,” he said. “We had a tall task in front of us with Beavercreek, but they didn’t (give up). … I couldn’t be happier for the way Cabrae Byrd got to go out tonight with a heck of a game. Bryce played his heart out and made some shots late in the game. (Wade) showed up, battled and did the gritty things. I’m just really, really proud of those guys and having them see an opportunity to play in a sectional final, which is the farthest they’ve ever advanced as varsity players. I’m really happy for them.”
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