01-05-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
WALTONVILLE - The Waltonville Spartans made sure that the potential for a “trap” game against Hamilton County on Tuesday night at home in their first game back after the Christmas break didn't happen.

As a matter of fact, Coach Tyler Mitchell's team used a “1-3-1 half-court trap” to make sure the second half of the season began with a victory.

The Spartans defensive effort forced 18-turnovers, including six early third quarter miscues, as the hosts rolled to a 66-42 victory to get the club over the .500 mark.

Behind senior Dylan Miller with 28-points and 19-points from senior teammate Ryan Majewski, Waltonville improved to 7-6 on the season with the triumph in the non-conference battle.

Miller, a 6-foot senior guard and leader, used the free throw line to rack up the numbers.

He hit 14-of-19 from the stripe as the Foxes paraded the Spartans to the line all night.

“I thought we played really well tonight,” said Coach Mitchell. “We pushed the ball up the court and when we got rebounds we found our point guard (Miller). Offensively and defensively we played well. I think we had 16 or 17 deflections and ended up with 11-steals. Our hands were active and that leads to fast-break points. All that together was why we did well tonight.”

The final score could have been substantially more lop-sided had Waltonville connected on a better percentage overall from the foul line.

Coach Mitchell's team hit just 21-of-35 from the line (60 percent).

Their were few bright spots for Coach Jeremy Varner's Hamilton County squad, who fell to 1-13 on the season after the loss.

Five-foot-eleven sophomore Jake Whipple topped the Foxes with 13-points.

Junior guard Austin Potter and backcourt and classmate Noah Rapp added eight and seven points each respectively while junior Oakley Dial hit a pair of 3-pointers for six-points.

Dial's dialed up long distance in the early going to give Hamilton County its only lead at 3-2.

However Miller got the scoring going in the first quarter for Waltonville, hitting for 14-points as the Spartans led 20-11 at the end of one.

He hit a pair of 3-point bombs with his first one connecting from the top of the arc for a 5-3 advantage at the 5:11 mark.

The biggest blow to the Ham Co fortunes was Miller nailing a trifecta from the left wing in the final moments of the quarter while being fouled by Rapp.

He converted the rare four-point play which pushed the lead to nine.

Waltonville put some distance between themselves and their guests in the second quarter.

Dalton Banach, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored twice in the second frame on a drive to the basket on an inbounds play and a 3-pointer from the left wing.

That long range shot triggered a 7-0 run as the Spartans cruised into the intermission leading 32-19.

Any hope for a comeback from the Foxes ended in the first moments of the second half.

Hamilton County, in their first 12-possessions in the third quarter, committed six-turnovers and missed six-shot attempts.

Waltonville took advantage and control of the game with eight-straight points as they led 40-19 with 3:44 to go.

Majewski, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, scored on consecutive trips down the floor and he also added a pair of foul shots in the process.

Hamilton County's Whipple stopped the run with a pair of free throws.

Then the Spartans made another run (6-0) with two more buckets by Majewski and and a basket by sophomore Caleb Jourdan.

This pushed the lead to 46-21 with 1:59 left.

Ethan Rapp netted a pair of shots in the third quarter for Hamilton County.

He finished with seven points on the night, all in the second half.

But Majewski added two more scores (15-points total in the quarter) as Waltonville led 51-27 at the end of a disastrous third quarter for the Foxes.

“We knew what they (Waltonville) were going to do and we had prepared for that 1-3-1 the last couple of days and I felt like we had some good shots early on,” said Coach Varner. “They didn't go in and then we kind of got away from what we were doing. Waltonville turned up the pressure, trapping on the top instead of the bottom corner. It is difficult to go from 12 down to 20 down and keep a positive mentality.”

Miller added nine more points to his sum in the final quarter, including 7-of-8 from the foul line.

His final pair of charities pushed the lead to 63-36 with 4:53 left.

The reserves swung mops the rest of the way for both teams.

Besides the turnovers, the Foxes were just 17-of-43 from the floor (39.5 percent).

However Hamilton County managed to with the rebounding battle 33-25.

Waltonville ended up 21-of-43 (48.8 percent) and committed just five-turnovers.

“When Majewski scores we beat teams by 20. When he scores we are successful and he did that tonight,” said Coach Mitchell. “Dylan Miller did a great job. He pushed the ball and got to the free throw line. He found guys when they were open.”

The Spartans will hit the road for its next game, a Midland Trail Conference battle with Jefferson County rival Webber Township on Friday night.

Hamilton County will host Christopher on Friday night.

“We are going to come back tomorrow and get ready for Christopher Friday night,” added Coach Varner. “These guys will be ready to go Friday.”

Hamilton County (42) – Rapp 1 0 1-2 3, Potter 4 0 0-2 8, Dial 0 2 0-0 6, Rubenacker 0 0 0-0 0, Whipple 5 - 3-4 13, Endicott 0 0 0-0 0, Gray 0 0 0-0 0, Van Abbema 1 0 0-0 2, E. Rapp 3 0 1-1 7, Rexing 1 0 1-2 3.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-6-11, PF-22.
Waltonville (66) – Miller 4 2 14-19 28, Banach 2 1 0-2 7, Jourdan 2 0 2-4 6, Spihlmann 1 0 1-4 3, Majewski 8 0 3-4 19, Lewis 0 0 1-2 1, Griffith 0 0 0-0 0, Malone 1 0 0-0 2, Tucker 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-18, 3FG-3, FT-21-35, PF-15.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.