By RYAN HINES
rhines@dailystandard.com
Incredible finishes in the first two games of the 23rd Annual
HALLiday Shootout left the fans begging for more as Celina and
Bryan will play tonight for the holiday tournament title.
Celina’s Tim Homan scored 30 points, including a three-point
play late to give the Bulldogs a 56-54 win over Springfield
North while Bryan’s Chris Carpenter, who scored 25 points,
drilled a buzzer-beating three-pointer to lift the Golden Bears
past Grandview Heights, 41-38.
The Bulldogs (5-1) will meet Bryan tonight at approximately
7:45 p.m. in the championship game while Springfield North (5-1)
will meet Grandview Heights in the consolation contest at 6
p.m.
“It was just a great couple of games tonight,” said
Celina head coach Mike Kanney. “Our kids were able to
execute down the stretch and we were able to come away with
a win against a very good team.”
Homan is the two-time defending tournament Most Valuable Player
and he’s got to be the front-runner to make it three in
a row heading into tonight’s action after the game-winner
against Springfield North.
It was a back-and-forth affair all evening and Springfield North
held a 54-51 lead following two free throws from Tryvan Leech
with 31.4 seconds to go in the game.
Celina’s Eric Klosterman found himself open under the
basket and Joe Kanney made a nice pass finding him for his only
field goal of the contest pulling the Bulldogs to within one
point at 54-53 with 19 seconds to play in the contest.
Springfield North’s E.J. McCockman, who scored 11 points
in the contest, missed the front-end of a one-and-one opportunity
with 14 seconds in the game and Celina drew up the final play
with 6.3 seconds to play after a foul stopped the action.
Celina’s Scott Boley took the ball out of bounds and was
looking for the hot hand from Homan who curled off a perfect
screen from a teammate and hit a difficult jumper off the glass
while getting fouled giving the Bulldogs the lead late.
“They had two guys waiting for me on top, but I rubbed
off a good screen and went to the basket and Scott found me
open,” said Homan. “It all happened so quick that
all I remember is getting a tingling feeling from the crowds
reaction.”
“I threw the pass a little behind Tim but he made a good
catch and made a great shot to win it,” said Boley, who
finished the game with six points. “We got a good screen
and Tim came open off of it and made an athletic play. When
he gets hot like he was tonight, all we have to do is get him
open and he’ll do the rest.”
Homan hit the free throw putting Celina on top 56-54 with 4.6
seconds to play in the game.
Gagle stole the ensuing inbounds pass and had a chance to tack
on a couple of points off of free throws but the senior guard
missed the one-and-one opportunity.
Leech grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball quickly up the
floor but turned the ball over at midcourt ending any threat.
Homan’s game-high 30 points came on 11-of-15 shooting
from the field and five-of-five from the charity stripe. It’s
the second 30-point game of the season for Homan who’s
averaging 24.7 ppg. this year.
“I’ve been coming in early and doing a lot of shooting
and I think that it has helped me out a lot,” said the
Hillsdale-bound Bulldogs standout. “l was feeling pretty
good tonight.”
Leech led Springfield North with 15 points while Chris Jones
netted 14 points.
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