3/6/2010
Dunlap's trey leads DJ to sectional title
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| Drew Bittner/Times Bulletin
Jefferson’s Nick Dunlap (44) hits a free throw that puts the Wildcats up 43-41 over Coldwater with 5.6 seconds to go, during a sectional basketball game on Friday, March 5, in Wapakoneta. |
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BY DREW BITTNER
Times Bulletin Sports Editor
sports@timesbulletin.com
WAPAKONETA - Pegged as heavy underdogs and given little to no chance, Delphos Jefferson was looking to gain a little respect in their sectional final matchup against Coldwater on Friday night in Wapakoneta.
"We're a good basketball team," said Jefferson head coach Marc Smith after the game. "All we are looking for is a little respect. We understand that you have to earn respect. We've won 40 basketball games the last three years and not many people know that. We've done it in Division IV and we've now done it in Division III. To come from where we've come from as a program to where we are at right now is really satisfying."
The Wildcats earned that satisfaction on Friday evening, and certainly gained a lot of respect, as a Nick Dunlap three-pointer with 30 seconds proved to be the decisive blow, and Jefferson knocked off heavily favored Coldwater for a sectional title, 43-41.
Jefferson improves to 15-7 on the season and will now face Ottawa-Glandorf at the Elida Fieldhouse on Wednesday, March 10, at 8 p.m. Coldwater finishes their season with a 15-6 record.
The Cavaliers actually pulled out to a big lead in the contest early on, sinking their first several baskets on the way to a 13-3 lead. Keith Wenning scored seven of those markers, and Luke Grieshop had four of those first 13 points while finishing with six in the first quarter.
The Wildcats clawed their way a little closer by the end of the opening quarter, as Jordan Jettinghoff hit a three-pointer and Ryan Ebbeskotte drained a shot, but Coldwater still held a 15-8 advantage after one stanza.
Jefferson clamped down defensively in the second quarter, forcing the Cavaliers into four turnovers and only allowing a single field goal by Tim Brunet, as the Wildcats outscored Coldwater 8-3 in the second period, and pulled within 18-16 at the halftime break. Jettinghoff and Ebbeskotte, with eight point apiece, combined for all of Jefferson's scoring in the first half.
The biggest surprise on the scoring sheet in the first half, though, might have been the 0 next to Coldwater's Eric Lefeld, the big 6-foot-8 center who was expected to be a force against a undersized Jefferson squad. Lefeld was hounded all night by the Jefferson defense, and only attempted four shots on the night - connecting on none and finishing with zero points.
"Obviously, he's huge," said Smith. "Obviously, he's a great player. It was all heart and guts. We had a plan on how we wanted to play him and we did that. It was a team defensive effort."
The teams played each other even in the third quarter, with both squads putting up nine points, and it was a 27-25 contest in favor of Coldwater as the third quarter closed. Jefferson's undersized, but quick defense continued to force problems for the bigger Cavaliers, as Coldwater only connected on 30 percent of their shots in the third (3-of-10).
"We felt like we could extend our pressure some and bother them, and it did for spurts, particularly in the second quarter, and it got us back in the basketball game," said Smith. "We thought that our pressure might wear on them as the game wore on. All we wanted was a chance in the fourth quarter. Being an underdog, we thought they might tighten up a little bit."
The Wildcats certainly had their chance, and they capitalized on it immediately in the fourth quarter, as Craig Carder, Jefferson's leading scorer on the season, converted on a three-point play at the 6:41 mark, and gave Jefferson its first lead of the contest, 28-27. Carder scored 14 points in the contest - all coming in the second half.
Wenning took the lead right back for Coldwater, with a lay-in, but Logan Bonifas answered that right back as well, putting Jefferson back on top, 30-29.
Brunet matched the Jeffeson basket to give Coldwater the single-digit lead again, 31-30, but shortly afterward, Dunlap canned a triple from the left corner to put Jefferson up 33-31 with 4:53 remaining.
On Jefferson's next possession at the 4:30 mark, Carder knocked down a triple, and gave Jefferson its biggest lead of the contest at 36-31.
The Cavaliers showed their veteran composure on the next series of possessions, as Grieshop laid in two points, and Reese Klenke knocked down triple and then a putback on an offensive rebound, and Coldwater regained the lead, 38-36, with just under 3:30 to play.
Carder stepped up yet again for Jefferson at the 2:49 mark, knocking down his second trey of the contest and giving Jefferson a 39-38 advantage, but that would be erased a minute later, when Brunet hit a layup with 1:31 to play for a 40-39 lead.
Coldwater extended that lead to 41-39 on a Austin Bruns free throw with 50 seconds remaining, but that's when Dunlap grabbed the spotlight.
A sophomore who started the season on the junior varsity squad, Dunlap looked like a veteran as he calmly knocked down another trey from the left corner with only 30 seconds left on the clock to give Jefferson a 42-41 lead.
"Nick Dunlap came in and made the most of it," said Smith. "Dunlap doesn't surprise me. I know what he's capable of. The kid has a ton of ability, just a ton of ability. He's young, he has very little experience, but he's played 12 games with us now. He knows we have all the confidence in the world [in him]. All of our kids have the green light to shoot the ball. That's what we do; that's how we play. I was proud of him. He had his moment tonight."
The Wildcats knocked the ball away from Coldwater on the Cavs' next possession, with, who else, Dunlap emerging with the loose ball for Jefferson. Dunlap was fouled and sank one of this two free tosses to give Jefferson the 43-41 advantage with 5.6 second remaining.
Wenning was able to get down the court and get off a shot before the buzzer, but his attempt barely caught iron, and the Jefferson squad and faithful started their celebration of the 43-41 sectional championship win.
"We stepped up," Smith said after the contest. "Dunlap did, Craig Carder stepped up, Ryan Ebbeskotte was good, [and] Jordan Jettinghoff was good. We have guys filling roles and buying their roles. We don't have any 20-point scorers out there. What we have is eight or nine solid players out there that do their job. When they do that, you can't ask for anything more as a head coach."
"We have a lot of kids in [that locker room] that have bought in for four to five years and believed in themselves," continued Smith as he praised his team. "And as long as we believe in ourselves, so be it what everyone else thinks. We still lack consistency from time to time, but I will tell you this, when Jefferson shows up, we're going to play with heart and desire. I'm just proud of our kids."
Carder led all scorers with 14 points on the evening, while Jettinghoff added ten points, Dunlap finished with nine points, and Ebbeskotte chipped in eight markers.
Grieshop and Brunet led Coldwater with ten points each, while Wenning added an additional nine points.
Unofficially, Coldwater shot 47 percent from the field (16-of-34), 25 percent from behind the arc (2-of-8), and 54 percent from the charity stripe (7-of-13). Jefferson unofficially went 39 percent from the field (16-of-41), 33 percent from the three-point line (7-of-21), and 44 percent from the free throw line (4-of-9).
Also unofficially, Coldwater won the rebounding edge, 23-11, but Jefferson took the turnover battle, 6-10.
Score by quarter:
Jefferson 8 8 9 18 - 43
Coldwater 15 3 9 14 - 41
Jefferson (43)
Wiltsie 0 0-0 0, Ebbeskotte 3 1-3 8, Jettinghoff 4 0-0 10, Carder 5 2-2 14, Bonifas 1 0-0 2, Antalis 0 0-2 0, Dunlap 3 1-2 9. Totals 16 4-9 43.
Coldwater (41)
Klenke 3 0-0 7, Grieshop 4 2-4 10, Rammel 0 0-2 0, Wenning 4 1-1 9, Bruns 1 2-4 5, Brunet 4 2-2 10, Lefeld 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 7-13 41.
3-point field goals:
Coldwater 2 (Klenke, Bruns), Jefferson 7 (Jettinghoff 2, Carder 2, Dunlap 2, Ebbeskotte).
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