“It was rough,” recalled Justice. “I just knew something wasn’t right. It’s all starting to come back and get together. It feels great to be back.”
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Justice was out of the lineup for four weeks with a cast on the ailing wrist. Miamisburg coach Tim Fries rejiggered the offense around 6-5 sophomore Duncan Hall and 6-4 junior Jason Hubbard. Hall is the only Greater Western Ohio Conference player averaging a double-double with 12.1 points and a conference-leading 10.2 rebounds.
Hubbard (11.6 points) is the other part of that productive inside game. Justice (10.7) provides the outside presence. Miamisburg knew what it had in Justice, who averaged a team-high 12.1 points as a sophomore. The quick response to the inside game was a bonus.
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“That was a big blow to us, but with Hall and Hubbard, the inside game had some time to blossom,” Fries said. “Kort is probably the best shooter I’ve coached. We had some guys who could really shoot, but he can really stroke it when he’s on. Prior to the injury, he was right where he needed to be.”
Justice went for 16, 20 and 18 points as Miamisburg defeated Springboro, Troy and West Carrollton to even its record at 9-9. The current three-game win streak followed a four-game losing skid.
At 2-6 in the realigned GWOC National West, Miamisburg is out of divisional contention. But that all changes when the Division I sectional starts in two weeks. The boys tournament draws are Sunday.
Miamisburg is at National West rival Lebanon (4-14, 1-8) on Friday.
“A lot of guys stepped up,” Justice said. “That’s going to help us out in the tournament.”
Kort’s mother, then Tammy Schiller, is a Tecumseh graduate who was the two-time Mid-American Conference volleyball player of the year in 1990-91. His father, Greg Justice, is a former head volleyball coach at Piqua and Brookville and coached boys basketball at Vandalia-Butler.
• Just like last Saturday's Dunbar at Trotwood-Madison thriller, Friday's Springfield at Wayne rematch figures to be the same. Springfield (15-2, 8-1) holds a 1.5-game lead over Wayne (14-6, 7-3) in the GWOC National East. Springfield also has mounted a four-game win streak since losing 54-51 at unbeaten and state No. 1 Moeller. Springfield defeated visiting Wayne 67-55 on Jan. 13.
“We’ve had a lot of success and we have a target on our back the last several years,” Wayne coach Travis Trice said. “Anytime you’re playing against a team that’s trying to get to where we’ve been and they have the talent and players to do it, it makes it a lot of fun. We need to return the favor.”
The game is a sellout and has an unusually early 6:30 p.m. varsity start time (5 p.m. JV). No GWOC passes will be accepted and no tickets will be sold at the door. Springfield is a likely No. 1 seed and Wayne will be in the running for a high D-I seed as well.
Springfield also is at Columbus Northland (16-2) on Saturday night.
• Northmont (15-4, 7-2) clinched the GWOC National West title with last Friday's 52-40 defeat of Lebanon. Thunderbolts coach Collin Abels said that's the first out-right Northmont boys basketball conference championship since 1975 when the Bolts were in the Miami Central Conference.
A senior-laden team, Northmont is paced by Vinson Walker (12.5 points, 9.2 rebounds) and Rodney Richardson (11.9 points and 4.8 assists).
• Bethel (17-3, 10-0) will earn an outright Cross County Conference boys title by beating visiting Tri-Village (12-5, 8-2) on Friday. The Bees have lost only to D-I teams Fairmont and Northmont and D-III state power Roger Bacon.
Tri-Village is 9-1 since getting its full roster back following multiple suspensions for hazing. That only loss was 61-56 to Versailles (17-1).
• Xenia sophomore Samari Curtis put a career-high 39 points on Stebbins in a 70-60 home win on Tuesday. The GWOC’s scoring leader as a sophomore (24.2), he bottomed 6 of 11 three-pointers and 9 of 13 free throws. He also had eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists in his finest overall game.
Xenia, 14-6 overall and 7-4 in the GWOC American South, hosts Trotwood-Madison on Friday.
• This is the final week of regular-season play for most girls teams. Sectional play begins on Wednesday.
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