Butler hits for 29
as ’Dogs go cold shooting
By RYAN HINES
rhines@dailystandard.com
Usually when Celina plays at the Fieldhouse, the Bulldogs can
expect to have a good shooting night but that wasn’t the
case on Friday night against Lima Shawnee in a Western Buckeye
League showdown.
Celina shot just 33 percent from the field but rallied late
only to see Shawnee’s Jamar Butler shake off a week worth
of sickness to lead the Indians to a 63-56 victory.
Shawnee improves to 5-2 on the season and 2-0 in the WBL while
Celina falls to 6-2 on the year and 1-1 in league play.
It was a tough shooting night nearly all the way around for
Celina as the Bulldogs connected on just 18-of-54 shots in the
game, including just eight-of-28 from beyond the three-point
arc. Scott Boley had the lone solid shooting night making good
on six-of-10 from the field for 14 points to go along with eight
rebounds.
Four players that Celina looks to for perimeter shooting were
off the mark against Shawnee as Brian Gagle, Joe Kanney, Brian
Geise and Eric Klosterman combined to shoot just four-of-23
from the floor.
“We had some good looks, but I think that at times we
rushed our shots and part of that is because Shawnee makes you
rush shots, but we just weren’t hitting tonight,”
said Celina head coach Mike Kanney.
Butler, who didn’t practice all week long due to strep
throat, caused havoc for Celina’s Tim Homan on the defensive
end all night as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer netted 23
points but shot just seven-of-19 from the floor. Homan was also
battling an illness this week and missed two days of practice.
While the defense was also solid, Butler scored a game-high
29 points while dishing out eight assists and pulling down seven
rebounds.
Boley guarded Butler for most of the night and did a solid job
forcing the Ohio State bound guard to shoot just seven-of-23
from the floor and just three-of-13 from three-point range.
Butler was held in check for most of the evening as his point
total is a little misleading since he made 12-of-18 from the
free-throw line, with most of those attempts coming late in
the game when Celina began to foul to try and mount a comeback.
“Jamar has been sick all week long and wasn’t able
to practice at all and then he came to school today and was
still really sick. I’m not sure how he played the way
he played tonight with as sick as he was,” said Shawnee
head coach Jeff Heistan. “On the way over here (to Celina),
he (Butler) told me that he might not be able to go, and he’s
never said that to me in the last four years, so I knew he was
really sick, but he played with his heart and I honestly don’t
know how he played so well.”
“If you’re going to Ohio State on a scholarship,
you must be a good player and Jamar is a very good player,”
said Kanney.
Shawnee held a commanding 52-40 lead with 2:47 to go in the
game, when Celina started to foul the Indians hoping for missed
free throws and an opportunity to get back in the game.
Butler made just one-of-two free tosses with 2:16 go play and
Homan countered with three freebies in a row after being fouled
on a three-point shot. Butler missed a one-and-one opportunity
on Shawnee’s next possession and Boley responded with
a bucket to cut the Indians lead to eight points at 53-45 with
1:51 to go in the game.
Butler hit four straight free throws, but Boley hit one charity
toss and Homan drilled a three-pointer to keep the margin at
eight points with 1:12 to go in the game.
Celina’s Brian Geise then was fouled on a three-point
shot and hit all three free throws and Butler made good on one-of-two
on his next trip to the line before Eric Klosterman hit two
free throws pulling the Bulldogs to within four points at 58-54
with 48 seconds to go in the game.
Another Butler free throw was followed by a deuce from Homan
getting Celina within three points with 37 ticks on the clock,
but Celina never scored again the rest of the way as the Indians
came away with the win.
Butler took care of the offense for Shawnee throughout the second
half scoring 23 of his 29 points in the final two quarters.
Jermaine Bratton scored 17 points, 12 in the first half, and
hit five treys in the contest.
Celina was able to pull away late to get a win in the jayvee
contest as the Bulldogs were victorious, 54-42.
Celina is back in action tonight at Bellefontaine.
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