In 1959, Maumee Valley Country Day School opened a new state-of-the-art High School Building. For the past 51 years, the school was the treasury of fond memories for about 2,000 graduates. But all things must come to an end, and so it was that Friday December 17, 2010 was the last day for classes in the venerable green building. Come January 3, 2011 the Hawk High Schoolers move into their new architectural masterpiece of a High School building, designed by Alumna* Kate (Bentley) MacPherson.
But from around 6:00 until 9:30PM that night, you could forgive Kate (Grant ’14), her fellow parents and MV fans for losing focus on architecture to witness the latest high point in this new era of Maumee Valley Basketball, as the varsity boys turned the TAAC world upside down in Ottawa Hills.
For the first time since 2001 (it only seems like it’s been since 1959) the Hawks would leave The Village with a victory.
And a timely victory it was, as Toledo Blade sports reporter Donald Emmons was in the building to cover the game as part of the run-up to the Blade Holiday Classic at the Huntington Center coming up December 27. Mr. Emmons story was front and center on the Blade sports pages Saturday Morning MV will play Toledo Central Catholic in a 2PM tip-off at the Classic.
Game Summary
Maumee Valley handed Ohio Division IV State No. 7 Ottawa Hills its first home court TAAC loss since February 2, 2007 last night, 45-42 on a buzzer beating three-pointer by Jonathan Krueger with 0.8 of a second to play.
Jared Sturt scored a career high 16 points last evening, including a 7-10 performance from the floor. He was assisted by several of his teammates and a tenacious defense which held the Green Bears sixteen points under their 58 point-per-game average in their first four wins.
Starting five – Dave Brown (’13), Rick Deichert (’12), Jared Sturt (’12), Dixon Stoddard (’12) and Jonathan Krueger (’12)
OH Starting five #5 J.J. Buckey, 6-1 Sr, #11 Andrew Jamieson, 6-3 Sr., #22 Bobby Brunner, 6-1 Sr., #1 Ian Trickey, 6-0 Jr., #32 Lucas Janowicz, 6-3 So.
First Quarter OH 13 – MV 11
Both teams started out the game early in man-to-man defense. Key battles would take shape early. Maumee Valley unveiled its two-pronged game plan – get the ball inside to Jared Sturt and press the action with aggressive guard play by Dave Brown and Rick Deichert.
Both strategies found success. Jared began the MV scoring inside for the Hawks, then Jon Krueger finished a fast break from the left wing on a great pass from Dave Brown for two.
But Ottawa Hills showed their mettle as well. Sophomore Lucas Janowicz effectively answered for the Bears underneath, with Buckey and Jaimeson finding some wide open chances against the Hawks. Julius Turner made his game debut at the 1:00 mark and make his presence immediately known with a strong drive and score from the baseline.
On the guards' end, Dave proved a handful for his defender Ian Trickey, who committed two fouls early. But the Hosts would exact one of their few moments of revenge on the Hawks’ point guard as the buzzer sounded with a score by Jaimeson on a down-low iso play to end the quarter.
Ottawa Hills would lead after this quarter; one dominated by the post players.
Second Quarter MV 13- OH 6
Starting the quarter – Dave, Rick, Julius, Dixon, Jonathan
The Hawks went with the smaller lineup to begin the frame and provide Jared with some valuable rest. Jon Krueger would open with a three pointer to start things off for the Hawks.
MV also switched to their 2-3 zone which made life difficult for the Green Bears. MV generated some fast break chances on several steals, including one converted by Julius at the 5:12 mark. On the next possession Dave Brown picked the OH point guard clean at half court and broke away for the deuce. With MV leading 18-17, Coach Dave Lindsay called a time out with 4:38 left in the half to cool things off.
The game continued at a quick pace though and MV’s ball handling skills began to wear on Ottawa Hills. Rick took a pass at the elbow, sank the jumper and extended the Hawks lead. The Hawks zone was effective in denying OH’s passes into the post.
With just over a minute left, Dave Brown made a dribbling trip deep inside the offensive area reminiscent of Steve Nash. Seeing no one open, Dave floated a shot in the paint from about 7 feet for a score.
The Hawks got the ball back one more time at the end of the half with 59.2 seconds left. Ottawa Hills retreated into a 2-3 zone. Rick and Dave would play Robo-ball for about 52 of those seconds, during which time I ran outside and took the following picture of the Ottawa Hills building during the freeze:
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| Yo, tell those guards to quit dribbling. |
Rick got the ball for the last try of the half. His defender tried for the steal and was left at the half court line to watch as the Hawks took a five point halftime lead at 24–19.
Dave and Rick accounted for eight of the Hawks’ 13 points in the quarter.
Thus ended what was probably Maumee Valley’s best-played quarter of the young season - tough defense, a fast paced running game and constant pressure against a first class team on their home court. More excitement was to come.
Third Quarter OH 14 – MV 8
Starting the quarter – Dave, Rick, Jared, Jonathan, Dixon
Rick started out where he left off, driving to the basket and drawing a two shot foul. He converted one of two to give MV what would be its biggest lead of the game, 25-19.
Ottawa Hills began the half in its 2-3 zone, needing to protect point guard Ian Trickey, who had three fouls working against Dave. MV was in man defense and took every opportunity to continue running at the Green Bears. With 3:51 to go, Trickey picked up his fourth foul and things looked good for MV.
But there’s this little thing called Senior leadership. Teammates Andrew Jamieson and JJ Buckey delivered a big dose of it for the home team. The Ottawa Hills duo began popping mid-range jumpers from all around the court. It was truly an effort to behold, and their form spoke volumes about the good coaching they receive. The Bears took over the pace of the game.
On the defensive end, OH’s 2-3 zone began to gel and MV found it difficult to get the ball inside. Ottawa Hills would roar all the way back to the lead at the end of the third quarter 33-32. The building was rocking in anticipation of a great fourth quarter. That’s what they would see.
A digression: The philosophy of sports writing and an appreciation
Describing the flow of a basketball game is mostly about offense; a typical story focuses on accounting for points. Who scored, when did they do it, and how did it happen? Note for instance the standard short-form game story which appears countless times every season in newspapers across the country. First the location and score, next the high individual scorers for both teams and maybe, any milestones reached by a team or individual. That’s the game in two or three paragraphs.
Most strong teams however, have that guy who rarely shows up in these kinds of stories. Nonetheless, he is a difference maker. He’s the guy who gives every fiber of his being on defense, fights for every loose ball, and gets more than his expected share of rebounds at both ends. Frankly, he is the person everyone on the opposing team hates to see coming at them.
Most nights for Maumee Valley that guy is Dixon Stoddard. Dixon is all over the court and is normally assigned to the opposition’s highest scoring forward or sometimes their post player. He is as physical as it comes, a tribute to his athletic ability and soccer experience. He never shies away from a loose ball and is constantly in the opponents’ face. He has a unique way of getting people off of their game.
Dixon’s main responsibility this evening was to guard OH’s top scorer, Andrew Jaimeson and although Andrew scored 14 points Friday evening, that was significantly below his scoring average for the year.
So a special Hawkblog tip of the hat to Dixon tonight. The team would be much worse without you.
Fourth Quarter – MV 13 – OH 9.
Starting the quarter: Dave, Rick, Jared, Jonathan and Dixon
MV was in man; OH switched from zone to man and back.
The Bears returned to one of their first half successes; getting the ball to Jamieson for drives to the basket. Dixon incurred two fouls within the first fifty seconds of play. MV decided to fight fire with fire, and Rick twisted down the lane, drawing a Carteresque two shot foul at the 6:05 mark. Melete was with the Hawks in the fourth, and Rick made both ends.
MV would get the ball back and unleash its spread offense on the home team, Dave getting the ball to Jared for an easy layup.
On the other end, it looked for a few moments as if Andrew Jamieson would take over the game, continuing his run of fade-away jump shots. But the Hawks would hold fast. In a key defensive play, Dixon intercepted a home run pass intended for Jamieson off a side in-bounds play. The Hawks pounded the ball in to Jared again for another two pointer.
Shortly thereafter, Coach R subbed Julius in for Dixon on a defensive changeup. Julius immediately jumped an OH pass and headed downcourt on a break. Ian Trickey had no choice but to foul him, and left the game with five fouls at the 3:31 mark. It was a one possession game, in favor of the Hawks.
Maumee Valley’s defense would stiffen further. At the 2:46 mark, OH called a timeout to diagram an inbounds pass. Twice the Bears would have problems passing it in, and Coach Lindsay was forced to call another TO at 2.32.
Ottawa Hills remained strong and was able to get the ball to Jamieson one more time. He drove to the hoop and Dixon picked up his fourth foul of the evening. At the line, the senior forward missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Jared pulled the rebound was fouled hard by Janowicz. Sturt came through with both ends of the bonus and MV was up 42-39.
MV would foul twice more down the stretch. Andrew Jamieson made two free throws with 1:25 remaining, then JJ Buckey came to the line with 54 ticks remaining and the Hawks ahead 42-41. JJ made the first, but missed the second. Jared pulled down his tenth rebound of the game and the Blue and White had the ball.
It looked like Ottawa Hills chose a match-up zone at this point with the clear intention of stopping Jared inside. Without much ball pressure, MV ate the clock until the 17 second mark.
And so we arrive at the Play of the Game.
In Chapter 1 of this season’s saga (the Fayette Game), I noted that ‘it will take some doing for (Jared’s winning two pointer) not to be the Play of the Season’. So here’s a Winter Break homework assignment for all you scholars out there:
Get out your dictionary.
Look up ‘some doing’.
Here’s what you should see:
With 0.8 remaining, Jon drained the three pointer. Hawks win, and in the words of Indians announcer Tom Hamilton, ‘Ballgame’.
Final Game Thoughts
Clearly, it will be a three team dogfight in the TAAC this season. Ottawa Hills is a well balanced and disciplined team worthy of tremendous respect. I believe OH will give Toledo Christian fits on Tuesday as their game matches up well against the Eagles.
Now also, consider this – MV has been involved in three white knuckle games so far this year. Here were the down-the-stretch results:
At Fayette
Part 1 – Rick drove into the lane, scoring to go ahead with 5.9 seconds to go but a foul was called on the floor.
Part 2 – Jared scored on the resultant in-bounds play with 2.6 to go.
Home vs. TC
Part 1 - Rick made a three quarter court bomb with under five seconds to go – waived off on a floor foul.
Part 2 – Rick made a turn-around three point jumper as time expired – just a split second too late
At Ottawa Hills
Jonathan’s 3 ball with 0.8 left was the Shot Heard ‘Round the TAAC. Ah, what the heck, let’s see it again.
In summary, in three games there were five late-game chances – and so far, three different go-to guys have made every shot (albeit, a few were waived off). And make no mistake, there are at least three other guys on that team (all six of them underclassmen) who could pull off something like the above as well.
MV has a very balanced attack that will be tough for any team to defend down the stretch.
Scoring
And now for the happy totals. Jared had his all-time night, scoring 16. Once again, MV featured balanced scoring, as Rick contributed 9 points, Dave and Jonathan each had 8 and Julius scored 4.
Ottawa Hills was led by a trio of double figure scorers who accounted for 40 of the hosts’ 42 points. It was a big night for both teams’ big men, as Sophomore Lucas Janowicz had 15 points. Andrew Jamieson almost carried the Bears across the finish line, scoring most of his 14 points in the second half and JJ Buckey tallied 11.
Next up
TAAC play continues Tuesday evening as the Hawks return home to face Emmanuel Christian Tuesday evening at the Valley. EC pulled out the whoopin’ stick in the fourth quarter Friday night with a 21-5 finish to beat Cardinal Stritch 61-36.
Meanwhile, astute Hawk fans will be casting aside their enmity and cheering wildly in absentia for the Green Bears as they face the undefeated and first place Toledo Christian Eagles Tuesday at TC in a game televised on BCSN. MV fans will be hoping that OH creates a three way tie between the Conference front-runners after their first round robin games.
* - I looked that up to make sure. You never know which of our distinguished alumni might read this blog.
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