Appearing to pull away with an early 11-5 lead, a fire alarm blasted throughout Springboro’s gymnasium midway through the first quarter. Officials stopped play — and Boro’s momentum — and cleared the gym for what became a 30-minute delay.
“To be honest, it was a good thing,” Wayne coach Travis Trice said. “It actually cooled them off.”
Springboro sufficiently recovered late behind 6-foot-10 center Maverick Morgan to win 62-59. The junior tallied a game-high 28 points to go with 11 rebounds, seven blocks and plenty more altered Warriors shots.
The early matchup between two of the area’s best Division I teams was composed of unforced turnovers, liberal substitutions and too many personal fouls. But it also was a signature win for the Panthers (2-0).
Still, nothing stopped the Panthers like the extended delay.
“It cooled us off,” Morgan said. “We came out and after that struggled a little bit, but we got it together at the end. It did its job.”
Keith Clements, one of only two returning starters for Wayne, had a chance to strike late when he intentionally missed a free throw. Wayne wrestled the ball away, but Morgan inhaled Malcolm Pittman’s inbounds pass from under Springboro’s basket and the game ended.
Morgan had just six field goals and three were in the first quarter. But he displayed a soft touch from the free-throw line, converting 16-of-23 attempts.
Facing a decisive height disadvantage, Wayne wrapped up Morgan once he gained control.
“Guys are trying to shove him out and a lot of those times that turns into free throws.” Boro coach Troy Holtrey said.
Mapes added 11 points for the Panthers. Clements led Wayne (1-1) with 18 points and Juan Ford, the Warriors’ other returning starter, added 11.
Wayne is No. 1 in the DDN D-I rankings and Springboro No. 5. Springboro also will play Trotwood-Madison and is in Flyin’ to the Hoop.
“We wanted to get the Waynes and Trotwoods this year,” Holtrey said. “We knew we had some good players and wanted to challenge them.”
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