Cedarville, Legacy Christian advance in D-IV sectional

Cedarville senior Benjamin Tarwater caught an inbounds pass with four seconds left in the first quarter and sped up court. Southeastern refused to let leading scorers Colby Cross or Trent Koning get open.

So Tarwater did what a guy they call Tex should do. He shot.

Tarwater drilled a long 3-pointer at the buzzer for a seven-point lead. Cedarville was off and running to its best long-range shooting night of the season and a 74-51 rout of Southeastern in the first round of the Division IV sectional.

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The fourth-seeded Indians (13-10) split with No. 6 Southeastern in two Ohio Heritage Conference games.

“It means a lot that we were able to work together as a team and finish this team,” said Tarwater, who scored a career-high 21 points. Cross, a junior 1,000-point scorer, also scored 21 and Koning, a sophomore point guard, had 20.

At the tournament draw, Cedarville picked its spot on the upper half of the bracket and Southeastern chose to play the Indians rather than go near No. 2 Catholic Central or No. 3 Emmanuel Christian in the lower half of the sectional or opposite No. 1 Legacy Christian in the upper half.

“Honestly, they chose us, so that motivated us to go out and play harder,” Cross said. “And it showed on the court.”

Cedarville’s next task is No. 5 Franklin Monroe at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Troy High School. The Indians bet the Jets 51-50 a month ago on a late layup by Cross.

Tarwater’s sixth-man performance was typical of what the Indians have been getting off the bench this season. Sometimes it’s Tarwater — 17 points two weeks ago — and sometimes it’s someone else supporting Cross and Koning’s scoring. In the games that sandwiched Tarwater’s 17 points, he was scoreless. He averages 6.7 a game.

“We all have our nights,” Tarwater said with a smile and a shoulder shrug. “It just so happened that tonight was my night. Tomorrow it’ll be someone else.”

Said Cedarville coach Ryan Godlove: “Tarwater was that X-factor tonight.”

It was everybody’s night for Cedarville. Koning made four 3-pointers and Cross and Tarwater made three apiece for team season-high of 10. The guard-oriented Indians have not shot 3-pointers — 29.5 percent — as well as they expected.

“They played extremely well,” Southeastern coach John O’Laughlin said. “And it wasn’t just Cross tonight. They all hit shots. They deserved to win the game.”

Tarwater sparked a slow start with nine first-quarter points and made a 3-pointer for a 15-point lead early in the fourth that began a 9-0 run to push the lead to 65-44.

“He helped us a ton,” Cross said. “Without him it would have been a way closer game. He came off the bench and played out of his mind.”

Southeastern (11-12) revolves its offense around senior post Charlie Bertemes. He scored 27 points, but when the Indians were building their lead toward 43-26 at halftime they limited his touches.

“Brandon Pollock’s defense was huge tonight,” Godlove said. “He made some big hustle plays against Bertemes that I thought was big for us.”

Otherwise, the Indians relied on Cross and Tarwater to score and Koning to score and direct the offense.

“Trent Koning probably had his best game that he’s had for us all year,” Godlove said. “He took that next step that we knew that he’s capable of.”

Legacy Christian 75, East Dayton Christian 35: Knights coach Brad Newsome chose not to take a first-round bye because two of his young starters did not have tournament experience. After a rough start and trailing 7-0, he's glad he did.

“It just settles you down,” Newsome said of getting in a game before going to play a team with a bye. “There were quite a few times Mike [Sharavjamts] didn’t look quite as fluid as usual. The tournament’s different.”

Sharavjamts, a 6-foot-5 freshman, scored 15 points and sophomore Roman Newsome, the other player without tournament experience, scored 10. Leading the Knights was senior Erik Uszynski with 28 points.

The Knights face No. 10 Newton in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Troy High School.

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