»RELATED: Photos from Trotwood’s win over Akron Buchtel
Tied in the second quarter? It didn’t matter. Allowing an eight-point run in the third quarter? No worries. When the Griffins could finally catch their breath, Trotwood was a 102-72 winner.
The No. 1-ranked Rams (27-2) will play for the state championship at 2 p.m. Saturday against No. 2 Columbus South (28-1).
“One thing that was most impressive about them is that I thought they were in great shape,” Buchtel coach Matt Futch said. “If I compare our team from this year to last year, I was pleased with our conditioning. But they’re on another level.”
The other-level Rams did it with their signature full-court pressure and trapping defense that sometimes allows easy shots. But they forced 30 turnovers and converted them into 44 points. They grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and converted them into 19 points. They scored 31 fast-break points and 72 in the paint. All because of the pace their defense creates.
“We really came out and executed tonight,” Rockhold said. “We want to play that way. For a lot of people who haven’t seen us play, it probably sounds crazy.”
Amari Davis, the state’s Division II player of the year, scored 24 of his 33 points in the second half. Carl Blanton added 21 points, Sammy Anderson 15 and Keon’te Huguely 11. Justin Stephens had five points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the middle.
Buchtel star freshman Chris Livingston, a first-team all-state selection, picked up three fouls in the first five minutes and never got into the flow of the game. He finished with 13 points. Jonathan King, an honorable mention selection, had 14 points and committed eight turnovers. Futch was hoping one of his players would get player of the year, but after watching Davis he said the right guy won the award.
“Smooth, great pull-up jumper, plays the game at his pace,” Futch said. “Watching him on film I thought the same, but I thought that we could bother him. But he was composed.”
The Rams showed that composure when the Griffins went on a 12-5 run to tie the score at 27 with 5:22 left in the first half. Rockhold called timeout and his team responded with a 23-10 run for a 50-37 halftime lead. The Rams made eight straight shots during the run.
Davis scored the first six points in the third quarter, but it wasn’t long before an 8-0 run sliced the lead to 13. After another Rockhold timeout, the Rams finished the quarter with a 14-3 run and a 72-46 lead.
Rockhold doesn’t like to call timeouts because he wants to keep the pace fast and he relies on his players to coach either up. But “they scored eight straight and that was enough,” he said.
The message was clear during that 60 seconds.
“He just said don’t let up and play how we play,” Davis said. “We wanted to get the younger guys in so they could have a chance to get on this court too.”
In the end, the Rams surpassed their scoring average of 101.4 points.
Whew.
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