But Summit’s combination of length, height and skill proved to be overwhelming as the Silver Knights from Cincinnati closed out Waynesville’s storybook campaign by a 73-51 margin at Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University.
It didn’t take a deep dive into the stat sheet to discover the major difference in the contest. SCD (16-10) outrebounded the Spartans (24-3) 43-20, which resulted in a 46-16 advantage in paint points along with a 21-14 disparity in second-chance points.
To counteract the Silver Knights’ substantial height edge, the Spartans needed to be potent from the field — an intangible not out of the question considering Waynesville’s arsenal of effective long-range shooters.
But that potential benefit never came to fruition as the Spartans shot at just a 40-percent clip, including 32 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
And Waynesville’s inability to ever claim a lead in the matchup kept the Spartans from being patient with their motion offense in order to keep the ball out of SCD’s collective hands.
The Silver Knights scored the first four points of the game and eventually led 13-7 after one frame — a cushion that increased to 27-13 at intermission.
“Early on, we didn’t hit a lot of (outside) shots,” said Waynesville head coach Brandon Philpot. “We knew we weren’t going to get a lot of looks inside.”
Waynesville’s best spurt of the contest came with an 11-2 surge to open the third period — an uprising that brought the Spartans back within 28-24 as Andrew Sharp canned a trio of threeballs during the stretch.
But Summit countered with an offensive board and layup and would deliver four more stickbacks during the quarter, which would end with the Silver Knights re-establishing control at 49-34.
With two minutes remaining, realizing the outcome of the showdown had all but been determined, the substantial Waynesville cheering section rose en masse to give the Spartans a standing ovation.
And for good reason. After a 2-2 start to the season, the senior-heavy Spartans reeled off 22 victories in a row en route to reaching the regionals for the first time in 25 years.
“It was magical,” said Waynesville senior guard Zevin Sesslar, who is on the cusp of committing to play at Bluffton University. “It was the best thing that could happen to me. I loved (my career) — I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. I love my guys."
Sharp (14) and Sesslar (12) combined for 26 points for the Spartans, while Max Joiner paced SCD with a whopping 29 points to go with 14 boards.
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