Div. IV Meadowbrook District final: Jalen is Johnny on the spot as Hawks beat Bishops
By KEVIN LYNCH
Daily Record Sports Writer
BYESVILLE -- The Div. IV Eastern District championship between the top two teams in the state was a game that featured one wave of momentum after another, with the biggest splash coming from Hiland senior Jalen Miller.
The southpaw drilled a 3-pointer with 3:44 remaining in the game to turn a 2-point lead into a 5-point advantage for the Hawks.
Miller then drew a charging call at the other end of the floor, and when Dylan Kaufman stuck back a miss to put the Hawks up seven (54-47) with three minutes to play in the game, the final wave washed over the fans at Meadowbrook High School.
From there, the Hawks made just enough free throws to hold off a late charge by the top-ranked Bishops to hand Rosecrans its first loss of the year 66-57.
The win sends Hiland to the Canton Regional on Tuesday at 6:15 against Windham.
"When they went to their 1-3-1, they got our movement to stop," Hiland coach Mark Schlabach said. "We finally got a little bit of movement on that possession and Jalen came open. He hits the biggest 3 of the year, and then takes the biggest charge of the year on back-to-back possessions. I just can't say enough about that kid... he's got guts. He's got a lot of guts."
Miller led Hiland with 18 points. The Hawks had four players in double figures.
"We went to that 1-3-1 which caused them some problems, but they hit some big shots," Bishop Rosecrans coach Todd Rock said. "That one kid (Miller) had some big shots for them. We hadn't seen him do that too much when we watched films. That was the difference.
"They made their foul shots at the end, which were crucial. I knew they would," Rock added.
After Kaufman put the Hawks up seven, Zak Kirkbride, the Bishops' leading scorer, drilled a 3-pointer to bring Rosecrans back to within four, 54-50.
Kaufman, who scored 17 for the Hawks, scored at the other end to push the lead back to six with 2:23 remaining.
The Bishops' sophomore point guard, Jake Phillis (18 points), fouled out with 1:18 to play and Jason Miller began the parade to the foul line for the Hawks down the stretch.
"We haven't played a close game in so long, where we haven't had those pressure-packed possessions or needed pressure free throws," Schlabach said. "We hit the big ones. Jason hit the front end and that took some pressure off of him. He was able to step up later on and make his free throws. We did enough there at the line to stay two possessions ahead."
Jason Miller hit 5-of-6 foul shots, Seger Bonifant split a pair, Noah Boyd swished a pair and Kaufman capped off the scoring with a pair of free throws. Jason Miller finished with 12 points and Bonifant added 13 in a balanced Hiland attack.
"We had so many guys play big and have their moments," Schlabach said. "In the first half, the points Seger got were hustle points. He got offensive rebounds, tip-ins and points in transition. For him to get those kind of points in a game like this shows how bad he wants it. It's the first time he's played in a game like this."
Hiland led 15-9 after the first period. Kaufman was fouled on a bucket, but when he missed his free throw, he rebounded the miss and stuck it back for a four-point play.
The Hawks came out hot, hitting 7-of-13 shots from the field in the first quarter, while Rosecrans managed only three first-quarter buckets on 13 attempts.
"We thought if we could get the lead and then spread them there at the end, but we could never get the lead," Rock said. "We missed some easy shots and there was that one charge there that could go either way.
"You've got to make layups," the coach continued. "We had so many easy shots in the first half that we just did not finish."
Hiland led 22-14 on a Bonifant stickback late in the second quarter, but the Bishops scored seven straight to pull back within one.
Bonifant then hit two free throws and added a stickback to extend the lead back to 26-21. Jason Miller rattled home a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer, giving the Hawks a 31-25 lead at the half. Bonifant had 12 of his 13 points in the first 16 minutes.
"I thought we did a good job against the move-in, Bonifant, in the second half. We got him in foul trouble," Rock said.
With Bonifant on the bench for much of the third quarter, the Bishops battled back to within 42-41 after three.
"We wanted to get out of that third quarter and get Seger back in there," Schlabach said. "We were just trying to survive that third quarter. We weren't as aggressive as we probably should have been. We didn't have our best offensive lineup out there. We knew about the 6-minute mark we were going to put him back in. He didn't score any buckets, but he brings a level of calmness that really helps us out on offense.
"A big focus of ours was, we didn't want to foul them in the paint," Schlabach added. "They get to the foul line so much. They're a good free throw shooting team. We didn't always play good defense, but we didn't foul them either."
Clinging to a one-point lead to open the final frame, Jalen Miller drilled a triple to push the lead back to four.
"Just when you thought we had a chance to pull away, they just made a big play," Schlabach said. "We had a couple big offensive rebounds, Dylan had that tip-in, and plays like that which answered their runs. Those were big."
Kirkbride (18 points) tripled to close the gap to one again, and after a Hiland miss, the Bishops had a chance to take the lead, but came up empty two times.
"We pulled to where we were down one, ran a couple set plays, but had some tough misses. But that's why you play the game," Rock said.
Jason Miller scored to push the lead back out to three, and after Phillis split a pair of free throws, Jalen Miller drilled his fourth, and biggest 3-pointer. And followed it up with his stellar defensive play.
"This is a game kids dream about playing in," Schlabach said. "We have a coach (Jason Mishler) who played in the '99 game (the 97-90 thriller won by Hiland). We talk about that game all the time. We (the coaches) watched that game the other night just for the fun of it. I don't know if they'll talk about this game like that one, but for our kids, it was a special game."
Hiland improved to 23-1 with the win, while Rosecrans bows out at 23-1.
"It was a tough loss. I'm proud of our kids," said Rock. "We had a great season, and I don't think this takes away from what these kids accomplished. Kirkbride and Phillis played pretty well. Every kids should be able to play in an atmosphere like this."
Phillis fouled out with 18 points
"It was a great experience to play in that game," Bishop post Zack Hill said. "It's kind of a shame these two great teams had to meet at districts. It was exciting. The atmosphere was pretty electric. It's too bad we couldn't pull it out.
"Hiland's a great team. They're well coached. They played the better game today," Hill added. "They're a really good team. They took it to us today."
Kevin Lynch can be reached at 330-674-5676 or
[email protected]
.jpg)
