Toledo Central Catholic’s in-your-face physical play, especially at the defensive end, gave Bowling Green
fits, sending the Irish to a 54-40 win that wasn’t as close as the score suggests.
BG dropped to 15-3 on the season. CC improved to 14-3.
The Irish led from wire-to-wire with a mixture of an efficient motion offense, especially in the first
half, and a defense that simply smothered BG.
The result was an abysmal offensive performance which saw BG convert just 8-of-33 (24 percent) field
goals, with no triples, while turning the ball over 15 times through the first three quarters.
“I saw things out of my guys I haven’t seen all year,” said BG coach Von Graffin. “Us making a steal and
then giving it right back. Not playing together. Not sharing the ball. Not running sets because of the
physicalness.”
“That’s how we play,” CC coach Jim Welling said of his team’s in-your-face, physical play. “We’re a team
that pressures the basketball baseline to baseline when we think we can. We’re quick enough and strong
enough to do certain things (like trapping and rotating effectively).”
After an inside hoop from Xavier Brown, BG found itself down just 6-5 at the 5:31 mark. Brown led BG with
15 points and seven rebounds.
The Irish, with five different players scoring, closed the quarter on a 13-0 run to take control of the
game, 19-5.
Over the course of the quarter, CC utilized two offensive rebounds, two driving layups, and back-cuts
that led to free throws in building its lead.
“(The motion offense is) impossible to defend when it’s all clicking,” said Welling, whose team was
19-of-36 (53 percent) from the floor, including 2-of-5 from downtown.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats, who took many contested and tough shots, hit just 2-of-13 shots in the opening
period. CC knocked down 7-of-10 field goals in the first quarter.
A driving layup by CC senior Benjamin Dent (eight points) gave the Irish their largest lead of the half,
21-5, with 7:13 showing.
The Irish went nearly four minutes without scoring, but the Bobcats only reduced the lead to 21-9 before
CC senior guard Drew Lehman (13 points) converted a traditional three-point play at 3:26. The half ended
with CC enjoying a 28-14 advantage.
“We got nothing easy,” said Graffin of BG’s first half. “That’s a good, physical, well-coached team.
(However), we’ve got to respond better than that (after winning the Northern Lakes League title last
Friday).”
CC, behind a triple from senior Jay Marquette (10 points) and three points from senior Dareon Jones (11
points), opened a 34-14 lead with 6:19 remaining in the third quarter. The Irish had their largest lead,
42-19, following an inside hoop from the 5-foot-11, super quick Lehman. With a period to play, CC held a
44-21 deficit.
Instead of folding, the Bobcats, behind 11 fourth-quarter points from Brown and four points each from
fellow seniors Chauncey Orr (10 points) and Max Beattie, narrowed the gap to 48-36 with 3:14 to go.
Defensively, BG forced the Irish into nine of their 19 turnovers which permitted the Bobcats to make the
final score respectable.
“We defended a lot better in the second half; they didn’t get the back-cuts and those kind of things
(they got in the first half),” said Graffin. “Now, we’ll see how we respond tomorrow in practice. I want
to keep challenging our guys. You play those (games) because they’re a barometer.”
Welling agreed: “Both teams are trying to get themselves tournament ready, so we use this as a kind of
measuring stick to see how we stand up.”
For the game, the Bobcats hit just 14-of-44 (32 percent) including only 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. Both
squads shot well from the free-throw line with the Irish netting 14-of-17 to BG’s 11-of-13. BG secured
24 rebounds to CC’s 19 caroms.
The Central Catholic junior varsity withstood BG’s 20-point fourth quarter, sank its free throws down the
stretch, and hung on to down the Bobcats 49-47. Evan Gardner led BG with 15 points.
BGHS 40, TOLEDO CENTRAL CATHOLIC 54
CENTRAL CATHOLIC
Jones, 4-3—11; Bussey, 0-0—0; Marquette, 2-2-0—10; Lehman, 5-3—13; Dent, 4-0—8; Cole, 0-0—0; Kizer,
0-6—6; Hanenkrath, 0-0—0; Muniz, 1-0—2; Boles, 0-0—0; Dudley, 0-0—0; Towbridge, 1-2—4. TOTALS:
17-2-14—54.
BGHS
Beattie, 2-2—6; X. Brown, 5-1-2—15; Fairchild, 0-0—0; Herringshaw, 0-0—0; Dunn, 0-0—0; Orr, 3-6—12; V.
Brown, 3-1—7; Peet, 0-0—0; Dill, 0-0—0; Augsburger, 0-0—0. TOTALS: 13-1-11—40.
CENTRAL CATHOLIC
19
9
16
10
—54
BGHS
5
9
7
19
—40
Junior varsity: Central Catholic, 49-47.
