Tonight was about honoring two of the hardest working basketball players you’d ever want on your team – Daniel Brandon and Omar Hazimah.
Here are your Senior Night Introductions
There would be no ruination of the Senior sendoff this evening at the Varsity Gym, as the Hawks came to play.
Game Summary
Maumee Valley Seniors Daniel Brandon and Omar Hazimah finished their regular season careers on a positive note, their Hawks defeating the North Central Eagles 62-36 at the Varsity Gym.
MV enjoyed hot shooting during the evening, jumping out to a 34-13 half time lead. The Hawks shot a blistering 14-17 from the floor in the first half, including 5-6 from three point range. Aside from a 10-2 NC run in the third quarter, the hosts were in control the entire evening.
First Quarter MV 21 – NC 7
Starting five – Dave Brown (’13), Rick Deichert (’12), Jared Sturt (’12), Dixon Stoddard (’12) and Julius Turner (’12)
North Central starting five – Brandon Manley (Sr), Ryan Masters (Jr), Josh Kinsman (Jr), Bryce Ely (Jr) and Jalen Dancer (Jr)
North Central worked from a 2-3 zone. MV played about 90% man defense, pressing sporadically throughout the evening.
MV got the opening tip and began the game with the Rick to Jared lob for two. Jared blocked an Eagle shot and Julius fired a three in from the left wing. NB missed twice from close range, wary of Jared’s defensive presence and the Hawk post player scored on a shot from the foul line to make it 7-0.
NC’s first basket of the evening came on a Jalen Dancer two pointer, but the Hawks came back down the floor and Julius again hit a three pointer from the wing again. Facing a 10-2 deficit at the 5:18 mark, coach Justin Houk called time out to steady his woozy Eagles. However, they came back out shaky and Sturt intercepted a pass leading to a break. Jared cleaned up a missed shot while trailing the play.
The Eagles stabilized and got three points from Jalen Dancer, but again the Hawks came back; this time it was Rick from the right baseline with a y squared = 4px trajectory basket. (He’s in Honors Precalc, let him explain it to you). After another NC miss, Rick hit a three pointer from the left wing.
Jared’s defensive presence underneath caused an Eagle to travel in the block then Rick hit a two-ball from the from the foul line.
Dave Brown got in the mix, stealing an inbounds pass and feeding Nick Frasco for two more.
With 52.4 seconds remaining North Central called another time out to get their bearings, trailing 21-5. The resultant play was successful in that Jared fouled Trent Pilmore, who made both free throws.
MV could not do anything with the last possession and the quarter ended with the Hawks leading by 14.
Second Quarter – MV 13 – NC 6
Starting the quarter – Nick, Dave, Jared, Dixon and Julius
The Eagles had the ball to start the quarter, but threw the ball away. Dixon capitalized with a pass into Julius for two points. After a North Central miss Dave Brown angled a shot in from deep in the left side. The visitors continued to misfire and were called for traveling. Julius continued to pressure the visitors’ zone defense, slashing through to the hoop for a shooting foul – and made one of two.
Rick returned to the game with 5:56 left in the quarter and with a rest, led the MV press to a hurried Eagle three point miss. On the other end, Rick drove right down the middle until the help defense arrived – then dropped it off at the last second to Jon Krueger for an easy layup.
From the bench, Jim Robinson, Jr. was cheering mightily for the Blue and White defense, which was stifling North Central’s offensive flow. The guests finally caught a break when Dave Brown fouled Jalen Dancer. Dancer made one of two. Both sides traded fruitless possessions until the 3:08 mark when Dave Brown fired in this three pointer…
…it was 31-8 Hawks with 4:46 left in the half.
Again, North Central could only manage offense from the free throw line when Ryan Masters was fouled by Dixon and made two shots.
Rick turned the ball over, but Jared made sure there’d be no scoring on that possession, blocking two Eagle shots. Rick quickly redeemed himself with a three pointer from deep in the left corner, stretching the lead to 34-10. It was 3-3 for Rick from beyond the arc.
Ryan Masters scored the only Eagle hoop of the quarter from the field when he hit a three pointer with 1:01 to go in the half. That would be the final score of the half and the Hawks had extended the advantage to 21 points, 34-13.
It was perhaps the most dominating half of the year for MV. They went 14-17 from the field, including a 5-6 mark from three point-land. Conversely they put the clamps on their opponents, holding North Central to 20% from the field (3-15). The Eagles would have been in single digits had it not been for a strong 5-6 effort from the charity stripe.
Third Quarter NC 12 – MV 11
Starting the quarter – initial game starters
The hosts began the quarter with a few hiccups – Dave Brown turned the ball over then fouled Garret Wagoner on a shot attempt, and he made both ends. Wagoner produced on the other end as well, blocking a shot by Jared and Jalen Dancer made a three pointer for the visitors.
Following an MV turnover, North Central missed a two point attempt, which led to this Rick-Julius-Jared fast break…
The Hawks scoring machine shifted into neutral, as a number of shots went astray during this stretch. Meanwhile, the Eagles got points from Jalen Dancer and Garret Wagoner to complete a 8-2 run.
Coach Robinson called time out at 4:08 and did his best Mufasa imitation:
NC scored one more basket, then the
Jared went strong to the hoop next and cashed in on one of two free throws.
MV’s press forced this Eagle turnover…
...and basket for Rick. Jared expropriated the next NC pass and…
…made both free throw attempts, and exited the game for Julius.
Again MV pressure forced NC to call time out...
…at 1:48 to rebalance against the Hawks lineup. It didn’t work. They missed a shot then MV held the ball for the last 1:33(!) and Dixon got in position for a basket
...and was fouled. He made both ends with 0:03 on the clock. The Hawks completed a 9-2 run of their own at quarter’s end to lead by 20 at the three-quarter pole, 45-25.
Fourth Quarter MV 17 – NC 11
Starting the quarter – Nick, Rick, Jared, Dixon, Julius
MV had the ball to start and Julius got a lob in over the zone defense to Jared to open with a basket. Austin Douglass fired back with an Eagle deuce.
Dixon continued a strong offensive evening with this sequence, nailing down the basket + 1…
…he made the free throw.
Jared scored on the next possession with a strong dribble-in basket from the three point circle. That made it 52-27 with 5:05 remaining and Rick and Jared were finished for the evening.
Julius was not out however and continued to make his presence known. He got to the line the next three straight possessions and made 4-6 free throws.
The lineup for the last four minutes included Nick, AJ King, Thad Woodard, Omar Hazimah and Daniel Brandon.
Omar also dished this pretty pass to Thad…
…and the crowd went wild.
AJ King got into the spirit with this give and go from Daniel Brandon...
Omar then scored his final regular season two points for the Hawks, a sweet move to the basket seen exclusively on the Hawkblog...
…and again the student section let him know he’d be missed.
The Hawks dribbled out the final 30 seconds...
...and at game’s end were up 26.
Final Game Thoughts
Give it up one more time for the Seniors in the post game commentary.
Well done, gentlemen.
The Hawks end the season 16-3 / 10-2 in the TAAC. This represented a three game improvement over 2009-10’s 14-6 campaign and MV’s best season in over a decade.
But there wasn’t a sense of finality at game’s end, because there’s much to gain in the OHSAA Playoffs, which start March 4 for the Blue and White.
Statistically, the Hawkblog stats team says it was the best shooting night of the season. MV was unofficially 23-29 (79%!!) from the floor, including 5-6 from long range. The Hawks were also 11-15 from the line – a 73% success rate. MV had 20 rebounds and 10 assists on the evening. The defense held North Central to 11-30 (37%) from the floor. The Eagles got to the line 17 times, making 11 for a respectable 65% clip.
Potpourri
- North Central is a young team, featuring only one Senior, Brandon Manley. Their varsity roster has seven juniors and two sophomores.
- TC Coach Dave McWhinnie was in the stands for the game. He was overheard calling some of MV’s plays in advance – ‘this play’s going to be a lob pass to the big guy’ – for the benefit of the North Central JVs sitting next to him.
- Jared’s 15 vs. Rick’s 14 on the evening secured the regular season scoring title for Jared by a razor-thin two points.
- Dixon was 3-3 from the line on the evening, extending his streak to 11 straight free throws.
Scoring
And now for the happy totals. The Hawks were led tonight by Jared Sturt with 15, Rick Deichert with 14 and Julius Turner's 13. Numerous players scored this evening for the Blue and White, including Dave Brown and Dixon Stoddard (extending his free throw streak to 11 straight) with 5, and AJ King, Nick Frasco, Omar Hazimah, Thad Woodard and Jonathan Krueger with 2 each.
Next up
The 16-3 Hawks now earn a well-deserved rest until Friday, March 4, when they face the winner of Tuesday's Northwood - Toledo Christian first round playoff game. Tipoff is 6:15pm at Rossford High School. Make your plans now to be there as Maumee Valley seeks to win its first Sectional title since 2002.
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