Hot-handed Trotwood rebounds against Northmont

There’s likely more to it, but junior Myles Belyeu has a condensed explanation for the offensive fireworks that have become the trademark of Trotwood-Madison’s boys basketball season.

“If somebody’s hot, give it to him,” he said after providing plenty of go-to spark in a 98-76 demolition of visiting Northmont on Saturday night. “That’s the plan.”

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Belyeu went for a game-high 26 points and huddled with Ashland and Cedarville University coaches afterward. College coaches have become a frequent sight after Trotwood games and why not?

Trotwood (12-1), the state’s top-ranked Division II team, just missed hitting triple digits for a fifth time but registered yet another quality win. The Rams haven’t been challenged in their Greater Western Ohio Conference American South or crossover matchups. Akron St. Vincent-St. Marys was roasted 100-61 the previous Saturday.

Trotwood's remaining schedule is back-loaded with Dunbar visiting on Feb. 4, at Centerville a week later and at Springfield in the regular-season finale Feb. 17. Springfield (11-2) pushed host Moeller, the state's top-ranked D-I team, on Saturday before falling 55-52.

Except for the St. V blowout, the Rams saved their best for the Thunderbolts. The communities shoulder one another and the schools are about six miles apart. All the players on both rosters know each other well. As anticipated, a capacity crowd was revved up. Besides, Northmont hadn’t beaten Trotwood since January 1998.

But fans filtered out after the third quarter. The game was decided long before that.

Both teams are in great positions to make deep postseason runs. Northmont (12-3), which had a five-game win streak snapped, will be among the top teams in the D-I sectional seed meeting. Trotwood is a slam dunk to be top-seeded in D-II. Returning to the state final four, something the Rams last did in 2014 as a D-I program, is the goal.

It also was clutch for Trotwood to rebound from its only loss, a 100-83 verdict to Gary Trent Jr.-led Prolific Prep (Calif.) in the featured matchup of last weekend's Good Samaritan Flyin' to the Hoop.

“We wanted to bounce back and really make a statement that we’re OK,” Trotwood coach Rocky Rockhold said. “I think we maybe did that.”

Senior Torrey Patton added 19 points for Trotwood and surpassed 1,000 career points in the first quarter. Amari Davis added 17 points, Amir Foster 12 and freshman Sammy Anderson 11 for the Rams in another balanced effort.

Jabari Perkins hit four 3-pointers and led Northmont with 17 points. Vinson Walker added 15 points and DeLonte Capels 10, but the Thunderbolts were outrebounded by 24.

"They're No. 1 in the state for a reason," Northmont coach Collin Abels said. "They've got good skill and they've got some nasty to them, some dawg to them. We're still a good basketball team. The biggest thing is going forward to the tournament. … It's the same thing I told them after the Wayne (win), one game does not define you, your team or your season."


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View photos and video from the game at MyDaytonDailyNews.com

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