Thunderhawks, Withrow win in Division I boys’ basketball sectional semifinals
Mark Schmetzer reports:
Lakota East senior guard Stedman Lowry goes up for a dunk in East’s 20-point win against Oak Hills Feb. 26, 2013. Photo taken by Barb Trimble of TrimPhotoAndVideo.com. For more photos from this game, http://proofs.trimphotoandvideo.com/g/022613east_oh
They are starting to look more like that first-half team, and they couldn’t have picked a better time to do so.
Senior guard Stedman Lowry scored 19 points and his younger brother, sophomore guard Dylan Lowry, set a career-high with 15 while going 7 of 7 from the field as red-hot Lakota East rolled to a 57-37 win over Greater Miami Conference-rival Oak Hills in a Division I sectional semifinal Tuesday at Lakota West.
The win was Lakota East’s third in four games since back-to-back GMC losses at Colerain and Sycamore.
“We feel like we’ve been playing well the last three weeks,” Thunderhawks coach Wally Vickers said. “We had a bad loss at Fairfield (77-58 on Feb. 15), but they’re a really good team.”
“We’re getting better at the defensive end, and offensively, we’re moving the ball better inside out,” Stedman Lowry said. “It feels like the beginning of the year.”
The fifth-seeded Thunderhawks (17-7) shot a sizzling 69.7 percent from the field (23-of-33) while advancing to a sectional championship matchup with third-seeded Withrow Friday at 7 p.m. at the University of Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Arena.
Oak Hills senior guard Jake Richmond scored a team-high 17 before fouling out with 6:28 left in the game.
Highlanders coach Mike Price was surprised that Lakota East, the No. 8 team in the Enquirer’s Division I coaches’ poll, handled his 19th-seeded team so easily.
“We came out a little tentative,” Price said. “They did a little bit of everything. They dominated us. We didn’t expect that.”
Oak Hills (8-15) was streaky all season, opening 0-6 before winning five, losing five and winning three before losing the last four.
Stedman Lowry scored nine points and Lakota East led by as many as 18, 32-14, in the second quarter before taking a 32-15 lead into halftime.
Lakota East (17-7) – Harpring 2 3 7, S. Lowry 7 5 19, Buckenmyer 1 0 2, D. Lowry 7 0 15, Panzeca 0 1 1, Baxter 4 1 9, White 2 0 4. Totals: 23 10 57.
Oak Hills (8-15) – Walters 2 0 6, Richmond 6 2 17, Laumann 2 0 5, Witsken 1 0 2, Fisher 1 0 3, Sallquist 1 0 2, Chisholm 1 0 2. Totals: 14 3 37.
Halftime: Lakota East, 32-15. 3-pointers: L 1 (D. Lowry), O 6 (Richmond 3, Walters 2, Laumann).
Withrow 64, Mason 40, Division I sectional at Lakota West: Senior guard scored Tim Coleman scored a game-high 20 points, including 10 on 12 free throws, and junior Isiah Thompson added 13 to lead the Tigers (19-4), the No. 4 team in the Enquirer’s Division I coaches’ poll.
Senior guard Kacey Richards scored 10 points to lead 17th-seeded Mason (10-13), which has been eliminated from the tournament by Withrow each of the last three seasons.
Mason (10-13) – McVey 3 1 8, Rice 1 1 4, Matula 3 3 10, King 3 2 8, Orlando 1 0 2, Beebe 2 2 6, Brinckman 1 0 2. Totals: 14 9 40.
Withrow (19-4) – Wise 2 0 4, Coleman 5 10 20, Ibott 2 5 9, Maye 0 1 1, Thompson 4 4 13, Cannon 1 0 2, Bland 2 2 6, Brown-Jackson 1 1 3, Jones 2 0 3, Robertson 1 0 2. Totals: 20 23 64.
Halftime: Withrow, 26-13. 3-pointers: M 3 (McVey, Rice, Matula), W 1 (Thompson).
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