On August 2, 216 BC, an overconfident and numerically superior army of the Roman Republic met the army of Carthage under the command of Carthaginian general Hannibal in the town of Cannae on the plains of southeast Italy.
The Romans, who had won a long series of battles using heavy armor and tactics adopted from the Ancient Greek armies, hunkered down in their phalanxes and looked to plow through their foe on that day. However Hannibal had other ideas and for the first time in the history of warfare unleashed his famous double envelopment strategy on the Romans, recording a smashing victory.
According to the Roman historian Livy "it is said that 45,500 foot soldiers and 2,700 horsemen were slain in almost equal proportion of citizens and allies". He also reported that 3,000 Roman and allied infantry and 1,500 Roman and allied cavalry were taken prisoner by the Carthaginians.
It was a devastating rout of the most powerful army in its time.
(Ed. Note - mostly stolen from Wikipedia)
Thus it came to pass that the Romans were upset on their own home court, so to speak.
While Maumee Valley Country Day School is probably not the first place that comes to mind when making a list of Barbarians at the Gate (although it would be cool to have an elephant as a mascot)…
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| Aaaaaaaand now, here are your Maumee Valley Pachyderms!! |
… a sense of unease permeated the air Tuesday February 15, 2010 at the Varsity Gym. After all, the upstart Hawks had gone to the Village of Ottawa Hills in January and stunned the State Number 7 Green Bears 45-42. That game was sparsely attended by the OH home faithful, used to MV games being just one more victory in a long series of walkovers (and who could blame them?).
They would not take the second game so lightly. The Varsity Gym began to fill up at 5pm, a full hour before the JV game started. The Green Bear faithful took their full share of the 400+ seat varsity Gym, black-clad students on one side and parents (who seemed a little less relaxed than usual) on the other.
The Hawk fans were there as well and the result was a gym packed to the rafters, Police officers counting and recounting so the latecomers could hope to get a seat for the game.
Those who did make it in were treated to a classic big-stakes game…
Game Summary
Ottawa Hills evened the score against the Hawks tonight winning at the Varsity Gym 45-38. It was a game of streaks, with the Green Bears jumping out to a 13-4 lead at the end of the first. The Hawks roared back in the second quarter to lead 24-21 at the break.
OH's key stretch came in the third when they were able to find an opening in the Hawks zone at the right wing during the last 3:38 of the third quarter and converted several key shots to go up by five at the end of three, 32-27.
MV cut the lead to one during the fourth, then to two as late as the 2:45 mark, but could not convert down the stretch. Between the free throw line and the melee of pressing while behind, the Bears got it back up to seven by game's end.
The Hawks had their chances - taking the number of total shot attempts as OH (38). However cold shooting from the outside did the home team in. Both teams made four three-point shots, but MV attempted 18 compared with 10 for the Bears.
For the Hawks, Rick Deichert led the way with 11, followed by Julius Turner with 9 and Jared Sturt with 8. Dave Brown had 6 for MV, Jon Krueger scored 3 and Dixon Stoddard added 1.
Ottawa Hills’ top three scorers accounted for 40 of the team’s 45 points. Lucas Janowicz led the field with 17 points, JJ Buckey had 12 and Andrew Jamieson added 11 .
First Quarter OH 13 - MV 4
Starting five – Dave Brown (’13), Rick Deichert (’12), Jared Sturt (’12), Dixon Stoddard (’12) and Julius Turner (’12)
OH Starting five – Ian Trickey (Jr), JJ Buckey (Sr), Andrew Jamieson (Sr), Lucas Janowicz (So) , Bobby Brunner (Sr)
Ottawa Hills started out in a 2-3 zone. Throughout the course of the evening, they would frequently employ a 1-3-1 zone and man-to-man. They did not offer more than a token press.
MV started in man and switched to the hybrid 2-3 zone on and off. MV pressed more, but not all-out until game’s end.
OH got the tap and Andrew Jamieson missed his first attempt. The Hawks opened the scoring on a Jared putback of a Rick Deichert miss. The Bears came right back with a Lucas Janowicz basket to tie it up.
MV misfired again on a three point shot, and Andrew Jamieson cashed in on a fast break basket. Lucas Janowicz scored a turnaround jumper to give the visitors a 6-2 lead and force an early time out by the Hawks with 4:12 left in the quarter. The home team was ice cold in its home gym; missing three straight shots by wide margins before Dave Brown scored off a Rick Deichert save of a ball going out of bounds, cutting the lead to 8-4.
But OH’s senior forward Andrew Jamieson came back on the next possession firing a three ball in with Rick right in his face, then one more two pointer by Janowicz finished things off in the quarter.
The Green Bears got the fast start they were hoping for, and let 13-4 at the end of the first. Conversely, the Hawks began the night 0-6 from behind the three point line and shot a paltry 22% overall.
Second Quarter – MV 20 – OH 8
Starting the Quarter – Dave, Rick, Jared, Dixon and Jonathan Krueger
MV began the quarter in its hybrid 2-3 zone, hoping to slow down the productive OH front line. Jared again opened up the scoring with a layup, but Janowicz floated to an open hole in the zone for an easy counter.
The Hawks came out in their spread offense, and Rick started the Hawk comeback with a three from the left wing. Ottawa Hills came back for two points on a putback by Geoffrey Beans.
After a few misses on both ends, Dave Brown scored two down the middle for MV, and after a floor foul by Jamieson, Julius took the ball down main street for another two pointer. The Hawis had pulled to within four, 17-13 and Coach Dave Lindsey called the Bears first time out of the gaje at the 4:14 mark.
MV’s zone continued to be effective and after another stop, Jared Sturt scored a basket and drew the foul, but missed the extra. Jamieson stopped the Green bleeding with a floater for two, but Julius came back strong to the hoop, cutting it to 19-17 Ottawa Hills.
OH threw the ball away on its next possession, then Jared found the rim for the tie. Lucas Janowicz scored next for the visitors to go back up two.
Julius Turner finally found his three point range with 53 seconds left, then after a double dribble call on JJ Buckey, Maumee Valley had the ball and a one point lead with 47.3 seconds remaining.
True to form, the Hawks played for the last shot. As seen here on video, the final play was intended to give Rick a three point try from the left hand corner. OH got to the spot in time, so Rick pounded in toward the middle for…
…this counterclockwise twisting runner which dropped in at the buzzer. Rick was fired up, and the Hawks completed the comeback, heading to the locker room up by three, 24-21.
Third Quarter – OH 11 – MV 3
Starting the Quarter – Initial game starters
After a rough stretch of man defense in the second quarter, the Green Bears switched up to a 1-3-1 zone. OH started the quarter with the ball, but missed their first chance.
Maumee Valley began the quarter very deliberately with a 1:02-long possession ending with a Julius Turner finger roll basket and the Hawks were up by five. Dixon Stoddard rebounded a missed shot, but MV was unable to convert on the possession.
At the 5:08 mark, JJ Buckey was left alone for a three pointer and nailed it to cut the hosts lead to two points. The Green Bears had found a hole in the Hawks’ zone on the right wing and began to take advantage.
Rick Deichert’s three point try bounced high off the rim and hit the apparatus and OH was back in business. Lucas Janowicz converted at the other end to tie the game back up at 26-all.
The Hawks shooting went cold again as Julius missed a three point try, and the Green Bears went back to the hole in the zone. This time Ian Trickey, with enough time to sing the first three bars of the OH fight song, knocked down a three pointer. Coach Robinson needed to patch the hole and called time with 3:13 left.
MV had the ball and at 2:35 Dixon Stoddard was fouled shooting.
He made one to bring the Hawks back to within 2, 29-27. But OH would find the same gap one more time and Buckey ripped the cords for a final three pointer. The quarter ended with the Bears ahead 5, 32-27.
Fourth Quarter OH 13 – MV 11
Starting the Quarter – Rick, Dave, Jonathan, Jared, Julius
MV gave the visitors a bad memory to start the third when Jon Krueger hit a three on a pass out from Jared on the block, immediately closing the gap to two points. Jon fouled Lucas Janowicz at the other end and the Bears’ center made one of two.
The Hawks came up empty at the other end after two tries, but OH couldn’t convert either. MV again came up short, but Dave Brown stole the ball off the defensive rebound and put a pretty loop de looping layup and it was back down to one 33-32.
Ottawa Hills called time to draw up a play and JJ Buckey hit a pull-up jumper for two. Janowicz committed a foul just after the play, so the basket counted.
Rick Deichert missed a three point attempt on the next possession and fell hard chasing the play coming the other way. The Bears could not convert despite three cracks at the basket and Jared pulled down the rebound. MVs outside shooting woes continued however as Julius missed a three point try. This time Andrew Jamieson made a two point shot and it was 37-32 OH.
The teams traded empty possessions, and then Rick Deichert singed the cords on a three point shot at 2:45 remaining to close it to 37-35.
Jared blocked an OH shot to give the Hawks the ball back
...but that would prove to be the Hawks last chance. A turnover by Julius and the Bears got the ball back to JJ Buckey for a two pointer and a four point lead.
Jared turned the ball over and now with under 1:30 remaining, MV needed to commit a series of fouls to get the visitors on the line. During this melee, the Bears managed to free Buckey on an inbounds play for an easy layup. It was 41-35 OH.
With 48 seconds left, Ian Trickey got too aggressive on defense and fouled Rick Deichert on a three point attempt.
...Rick made all three
...cutting the lead to 41-38.
Jared fouled Jamieson to stop the clock and the Senior made both ends with under 30 to play. After a last MV miss and a cleanup hoop by Lucas Janowicz, the final buzzer sounded and Ottawa Hills was victorious in the rematch, final score 45-38.
Final Game Thoughts
Most high school students can recall the battle of Cannae and how Hannibal defeated the Romans. But not so many can tell you that in the aftermath, the Romans redoubled their efforts, retrained their armies, changed their tactics and went on to crush the entire civilization of Carthage en route to Rome’s greatest glories. So like the Romans after the disastrous Battle of Cannae, the established power in the TAAC did not turn and run, but redoubled its efforts in light of a new challenge. The Hawks are not looking for the rest of this historical parallel to manifest itself.
One game does not a season make. Conversely, no obstacle is insurmountable and as one side recovers from defeat and learns, so can the other.
And so the first two rounds are over and each team has shown strengths and weaknesses. Both teams can take comfort, and simultaneously be quite concerned with stretches of strong play on both sides.
With the win, the Bears effectively fulfilled the pre-season predictions and took the TAAC lead with just a few Conference games left for both teams. It being unlikely OH will lose those games it looks like a second place finish for the Hawks provided they took care of business at Cardinal Stritch later in the week.
Lots of basketball remains, but getting to a Round 3 game vs. the Bears is a paramount goal for Maumee Valley. Practice hard and play well Hawks - parvis imbutus tentabis grandia tutus.
Bonus material…
- Your Hawkblog staff is always on the job and has edited the first two games into this 12 second summary.
- Both teams have one more chance to meet. Assuming sectional and first round District wins, a rematch could occur on at 7pm on March 11 at the home of the soon-to-be-TAAC-member Gibsonburg Golden Bears (does their mascot dress up in a Jack Nicklaus costume?) in the District finals.
- Lest you believe this story represents a jaded view of the world…here is a link to the Toledo Blade account of the game.
Scoring
And now for the unhappy totals. Rick Deichert led the way with 11, followed by Julius Turner with 9 and Jared Sturt with 8. Dave Brown had 6 for MV, Jon Krueger scored 3 and Dixon Stoddard added 1.
Lucas Janowicz led all scorers with 17 points for Ottawa Hills, including 12 in the first half. JJ Buckey had 12, Andrew Jamieson 11, Ian Trickey 3 and Geoffrey Beans 2.
Next up
The march continues for MV. After a two day respite, the Hawks play another two in a row; Friday night at Cardinal Stritch then back home Saturday to face the Tigers of North Baltimore. Heal up Hawks, you’ll need your rest.
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