Beavercreek senior Isaiah-Michael Williams scored a game-high 26 points, senior Kaden Ellerbe had 12 points and senior Owen Roether had 10 points as the Beavers improved to 5-7 and 3-4 in the GWOC.
“We had a sense of urgency,” said Beavers coach Isaiah Williams. “We had just lost three games. That was the motivation and the fact of what they did to us in the tournament last year. They had a little bit of extra edge going into the game and we were able to execute tonight.”
Springfield juniors Charles Cunningham and E.J. Rice each had 11 points as the Wildcats dropped their third straight game, falling to 4-6 and 2-4 in the GWOC.
Beavercreek, which fell to Springfield 71-65 in overtime in a Division I second-round tournament game last season, used several different zone defenses in the game, forcing 18 Wildcat turnovers. The Beavers had struggled with their man-to-man defense during a three-game losing streak, Williams said.
“We had to go back to the drawing board and put in some different defensive packages,” he said. “They kind of ruffled Springfield’s feathers because they have a couple shooters.”
Beavercreek held Springfield without a field goal for the first four minutes of the game, grabbing an 11-2 lead on a putback by sophomore Dawson Paulus. They increased the lead to 21-7 on a 3-pointer by Ellerbe with about 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Wildcats struggled to handle the ball throughout the first half, giving up easy buckets in transition. The Beavers led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter.
“That was frustrating,” said Wildcats coach Matt Yinger. “We talked about ball security before the game started. They showed a 1-3-1 zone against us and we’ve got to do a better job of flashing to the ball, penetrating gaps. We settled for too many 3s.”
The Beavers were also able to find Isaiah-Michael Williams, who hit 10-of-15 free throws in the game.
“He put it in when he needed to, but he’s still got to finish around the rim a little bit better,” Coach Williams said. “He attacked the glass and that’s what he does best, getting downhill.”
The Wildcats cut the lead to nine points a few times in the second half, but weren’t able to get any closer.
The key moving forward, Yinger said, will be to play more consistently, especially on defense.
“The challenge to the guys in the locker room is to trust what we’re doing, trust what we’re building and fight to be more consistent for two halves and 32 minutes,” Yinger said.
The Wildcats travel to Springboro on Friday and host St. Xavier on Saturday night.
“Our schedule doesn’t allow us to feel sorry for ourselves,” Yinger said. “We’ve got to keep fighting every night.”
The Beavers began a five-game road trip with Tuesday’s victory over Springfield. They travel to Miamisburg on Friday night and play Newark at 8 p.m. Sunday at Ohio Dominican University. They return to action at 4:45 p.m. Monday against Pickerington North at The Beacon Orthopaedics Flyin’ to the Hoop Invitational at Kettering’s Trent Arena. They also travel to Northmont on Friday, Jan. 24.
“We’ve got a gauntlet,” Williams said. “It’s all about how we take care of our bodies off the court so we can have the energy on the court. That’s what it’s about.”
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