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Marcus
Horner is hounded by Catholic Centrals senior, Casey Burns
Wednesday night at
Troy High School, in the sectional semi-finals.
Franklin Monroe advanced to the finals to be played on
Saturday with a
45-21 victory. CNO Photos by George Starks
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Jets move on in OHSAA sectional play
By George Starks
TROY- “I never want to play in another game like this one.”
Those were the words of one Franklin Monroe player Wednesday after the
Jets took a 45-21 win from the Catholic Central Irish.
It may very well go down as one of the ugliest games ever played in the
state of Ohio.
Catholic Central (Springfield) came into Troy High School Wednesday,
looking to defuse the high flying Franklin Monroe Jets offense.
The Jets, fresh off of a big win over Jefferson Monday, 67-50, while
the Irish had popped Cedarville that same night, 56-45, was fueled up
and ready go.
Catholic Central did everything in its power to not only defuse the
Jets engines but keep them grounded and there was only one way to do it.
Take the ball out of the hands of their opposition.
After three quarters, the Irish had the Jets right where they wanted
them.
“They knew they couldn’t match up with us,” said FM coach Troy Myers.
“They had to play that kind of a game against us, I have to give our
guys some credit for being able to stay focused for four quarters the
way they do. Our kids are smart enough and knowledgeable enough to keep
their heads straight and do what needs to be done.”
With the Irish sitting in a 2-3 zone at the start of the fourth
quarter, the Jets pulled the ball out and made the Irish come out and
play some good, old fashioned, Jet basketball.
With three quarters of some very boring basketball in the books, and FM
holding a 24-19 lead, Myers did exactly what was needed to be done.
“This wasn’t our brand of basketball,” said Myers. “Our fans aren’t use
to this style but it was the only way we could bring them out of that
zone and make them play the game our way.”
With the score knotted at 5-5 at the end of the first frame, it was
obvious long before the end of the quarter what the Irish were going to
do.
They were going to slow it down and make it one of the more boring
games of the tournament.
In that first eight minutes, the Jets fired up only six shots with one
connecting, a trey by junior Martin Maksvytis at the 3:26 mark.
When the start of the second quarter came, Myers turned up the heat,
employing a full court press and playing a match-up zone of his own.
The tactic worked but when the half had ended, it was not what Myers
had hoped for as the Jets held a slim, 15-10 lead at the break.
“I told the kids at halftime, they were going to play basketball,” said
Myers. “We had to force them to play. It’s hard to run when you score
only seven buckets and we like to get the ball moving. When the other
team is not even shooting the ball, it’s hard to get out and go. So we
tried to turn up the tempo, get some tips and some loose balls and try
to see if we couldn’t go in transition and score some points.”
Still trailing by three late in the third, Myers gave the Irish a taste
of their own medicine, stalling the ball in an attempt to force the
action.
That was a message being sent to the Catholic Central bench that it was
time to have some action on the floor.
With the start of the fourth quarter, the Jets came out and held the
ball.
Catholic Central, willing to sit back and watch, did so for nearly two
minutes.
Once the Jets came out of the zone, it was all Franklin Monroe.
The Jets scored the first nine points of the frame, seven by senior
Trey Mong, and with 5:11 left in the game, a five point, 33-19 lead had
blossomed into a commanding 33-19 lead.
Catholic Central, 19 seconds later, broke the scoreless streak, with
its only bucket of the stanza by junior Tate Robinson.
By the end of the game, Mong had netted 13 points while senior Travis
Feitshans added a dozen to lead the way.
“We finally were able to pull them out of what they were trying to do
and it blew up into a 20 point lead or whatever it was in the fourth
quarter,” said Myers. “That’s ultimately what it all came down to was
pulling them out and making them play ball. They knew they couldn’t
guard us but you have them a little bit of credit for the game plan
they had coming in.”
With the win, the Jets will face Troy Christian Saturday for the
sectional title.
The two team met at the Hangar on January 11 in a game the Eagles won,
64-58.
“We’re ready,” said Myers. “We’ve got a little taste in our mouth in
the last couple of times we’ve played them. We let one go at our place
last month and we’re going to get after them. We know what kind of game
plan they probably have and they know us really well also. We just have
to defend them better. We gave them 64 the last time we played them and
that’s not common for us. All we need is one more point than they have.”
The two teams will hook up Saturday in a 7 pm scheduled tip at Troy.
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Devon
Fourman goes in for his only two points of the night against the Irish.
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