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ATHENS — When nothing else was quite working, Minford gave the ball to Myles Montgomery and Bennett Kayser.
In turn, the duo led the Falcons out of a first half hole and into a district final.
Montgomery and Kayser combined for 39 points and 13 rebounds on Sunday — most of which came in the second half — as they led the Falcons to a 58-45 victory over Fairland in a Division III district semifinal at Ohio University.
CREDIT: Erica Fike/SOSA
“Early on we weren’t catching any breaks. We were getting beat off the dribble, giving up a bunch of 3’s and not securing rebounds,” Minford coach Josh Shoemaker said. “We turned things around in the second half, but especially in the fourth quarter. Our defense was much better, we start guarding really well, took care of the basketball and made our free throws.
Minford (20-4) started out balanced with buckets from Myles Montgomery, Bennett Kayser, Jackson Shoemaker and Troy Rhodes, taking an 8-4 lead.
However, Fairland’s Brody Buchanan and Chase Allen each knocked down a triple on the other end to put the Dragons ahead 10-8 after the first stanza.
Buchanan opened the second by scoring the Dragons’ next seven points before teammate Will Davis dished a perfect dime to Keegan Smith for a bucket, keeping Fairland ahead 19-16.
The Dragons (16-9) kept weight on the pedal to close out the half with a bucket from Allen before Buchanan drilled his third triple of the half, making it 24-18.
“Give Fairland credit, they really stretched us out in the second. The Convo is a shooting monster, sometimes guys can come in here and really stroke it like they were early,” Shoemaker said. “We talked about doing the little things right during halftime and we needed to execute better.”
Momentum was with the Dragons, but that changed drastically after the break.
The Falcons opened the second half a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor, including Jeffery Pica throwing a perfect dime to Kayser for an alley-oop slam. They also knocked down six straight free throws to swing momentum and take a 36-34 lead.
“Jeffery is a perfect teammate to make that kind of pass and play, I love that guy,” Kayser said. “We worked on that all week in practice whenever we get the chance, just getting the timing down and figuring out where the pass needs to be. We’ve done it all year and hopefully we can keep doing it.”
Fairland’s Trevor Lochow answered by drilling a trey at the buzzer to keep the Dragons ahead 37-36 after three quarters. Lochow splashed another triple to begin the fourth, following a bucket inside from Marcum, extending the lead to 42-38.
That’s, however, when the lightbulb turned on for the Falcons.
Between Montgomery, Kayser and Rhodes attacking the basket at will, and getting to the free throw line, the Falcons went on a 14-0 run that gave them a commanding 52-42 lead.
That was enough for them to cross the finish line, stamping another district final appearance.
“We told the guys that just because you have an open 3 doesn’t mean that it’s a good shot. We stopped shooting 3’s, attacked the basket and guys started getting more aggressive,” Shoemaker said. “Guys were playing around the rim and we were playing selfless basketball. We focused on those little things and turned in a really good fourth quarter.”
Montgomery ended the night with a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds, while Kayser added 17 points with six rebounds. Shoemaker added nine points and five rebounds.
For Fairland, Buchanan finished with a team-high 15 points and Lochow added nine points.
Minford advances to a Division III district final at 6 p.m., Saturday at Ohio University’s Convocation Center against North Adams, who defeated Ironton to advance.
Both teams played in last year’s district final, with the Green Devils coming out on top 54-46. So, there’s no lack of motivation for the Falcons to get a measure of revenge on the same stage against the team that ended their season.
“It comes down to paying attention to details and following the scouting report. It’s been 29 years since we’ve won a district title,” Shoemaker said. “There were times tonight that we lost a guy and gave up an open shot. We can’t do that on Saturday, so we have to stick to the gameplan we put together.”
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