Stories by: Scott Dubois—
Oak Hill’s 3rd ranked in 2A boys basketball team began state tournament play in their own sectional against Wabash on Wednesday March 1st. In a ball game that may have been described as ugly the Golden Eagles survived with a 52-29 victory over the Apaches.
This game was a re-match of the opening game of the season where Oak Hill defeating Wabash easily 82-48. For some of the fans in attendance that expected a similar outcome, the Apaches seemed determined in the first quarter to show that things were going to be different this time. Both teams were displaying sectional nerves as scoring was difficult in the opening minutes of the game. Wabash tied to combat a significant size advantage by Oak Hill by using a very deliberate style to go ahead 5-2 with half of the quarter remaining. The Golden Eagles with a 7-2 offensive spurt to close the period with a narrow 9-8 lead. In the second quarter, Oak Hill seemed to shake off any offensive jitters they were having to take control of the game. Using their pressing full control defense, juniors Tyce Frank and David Arens fueled a 13-4 run to grab a 22-11 lead over Wabash. In the final few minutes off the half the two teams would trade two buckets each and the Golden Eagles would head to the locker room ahead 26-15.
In the second half the Eagles picked up where they left off offensively. The size and strength of Oak Hill was just too much Wabash as the Golden Eagles exploded on a 16-7 run to start the third quarter and double the score at 44-22. The Apaches tried to slow down Oak Hill, but were still trailing 48-26 at the end of the quarter. The final quarter was anticlimactic as Oak Hill used their delay offense to keep the ball from the scrabbling Wabash defense. The result was only seven points during the fourth quarter as the Eagles salted away the 53-29 win. Frank lead Oak Hill with 17 points and junior Spencer Ballinger added 11 points. Junior Luke Mattern led Wabash with 11 points.s.
Oak Hill improves to 16-3 on the season and takes Southwood on Friday. Wabash finishes the season at 9-14.
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A season with so many high expectations for Oak Hill’s boys’ basketball team came to a very sudden and disappointing end against Southwood on Friday night. In hotly contested game between two teams ranked in the top ten in 2A the Knights triumphed over the Golden Eagles 60-52.
Following opening round games where Southwood and Oak Hill had lopsided victories, there was a lot of anticipation of this second meeting of the season. Coming off an earlier loss to Oak Hill at home in January, Southwood started the game with high energy and sprinted out to the 8-2 lead. Oak Hill responded the Knights surge with a 7-3 run to close within two at 11-9 before Southwood closed the quarter at 14-9. The Golden Eagles tried to shake their early shooting woes in the second period, but solid defense by Southwood lead to back and forth and a slim 25-21 Knights’ lead with five seconds to go in the half. In those five seconds Oak Hill whipped the basketball up the floor to junior Spencer Ballinger who buried a shot at the buzzer. The basket turned out be controversial because some observers including the Oak Hill coaching staff felt the shot was a three point field goal. The officials after some discussion decided the ruling of a two point shot was correct and the halftime score was 25-23..
Oak Hill began the second half on a 5-3 run to tie the game up 28. For the rest of the third quarter the cold shooting of Oak Hill and the intense defense of Southwood fueled a 8-0 run by the Knights to close quarter with a 36-28 lead. The offensive streak for Southwood continued into the final stanza as they stretched their lead to thirteen at 41-28. At this point the Golden Eagles started to use their full court press to cut into the Southwood lead at 48-38 with just over four minutes remaining. The next three minutes were filled with frantic, quick paced action that allowed OK Hill to crawl within a single point at 53-52. Unfortunately, the Eagles would not score again and the Knights would tally the last seven points to seal the 60-52 victory. Ballinger led Oak Hill in scoring with 18 points and fellow juniors Tyce Frank and Caleb Middlesworth contributed 14 and 12 points respectively. Ballinger also grabbed 15 rebounds and Frank added five assists. Southwood was lead in scoring by junior Carson Blair with 16 points and junior Matthew Nose with 15 points.
Oak Hill finishes the season at 20-4. Southwood improves to 20-4 on the season and will play Manchester in the sectional final on Saturday.
