BOWLING GREEN, OHIO — If there is one thing the Western Buckeye League is good at, it is preparing teams for postseason play, and no one knows that better than the Celina Bulldogs boys basketball team.
Celina (16-8) used all that preparation it received from the league, both during the regular season and in the district tournament, to overcome an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit and earn a 54-45 victory over the Clearview (Lorain) Clippers (21-3) in the regional semifinals at Anderson Arena on the campus of Bowling Green State University on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs will battle Port Clinton for the regional championship and State Tournament Final Four berth Saturday afternoon.
"Survive-and-advance is a great strategy at this point in time," Celina coach Chris Bihn said. "To get on to the next game, that’s all you’re asking for. There are no ugly wins at this point. Right now, I’m on Cloud Nine. This is a great place to be.
"We talked about this before; I’m not sure a lot of teams, a lot of people, predicted us to get this far," he added. "Getting here is a tremendous feeling and this is something here that no amount of money can buy. There’s absolutely nothing anybody can do about this or that anybody else can get."
Through their run in the district tournament hosted by Ohio Northern University and Lima Senior High School, the Bulldogs defeated Lima Shawnee (75-62), Kenton (58-53) and Elida (54-53).
"This is probably rather unique," Bihn said. "Clearview was the first team in the tournament that was not in our league. We played the league all the way through. I had a run like this earlier when I was at Coldwater. When we went that time, I was busting my tail out scouting everybody and doing all the stuff. This year, it was pretty easy. I didn’t have to scout anybody. I pretty much knew what we were going to see, who we were going to see. This has been a whole change."
Clearview had an advantage in momentum at the end of the third quarter but let it slip away.
Clippers guard Tony Williams caught a tipped pass on the right wing and fired up a 3-point shot. As the buzzer sounded, Williams’ shot fell through the net and gave Clearview a six-point lead. The Clippers expanded that edge to eight when senior guard Anthony Hitchens stole the ball and hit a layup.
After Hitchens’ basket, however, the Bulldogs ratcheted up the defensive pressure and held Clearview scoreless for six minutes. Two late fouls on the Clippers and four free throws evened the score in the final minute. Clearview’s last-second attempt to break the tie did not fall at the fourth-quarter buzzer. In the fourth quarter and overtime, Celina outscored Clearview 21-6.
"When we got pressure and got after it, we were winning," said Clearview coach John Szalay. "When they came down and made us make five or six or seven passes before we got a look, we got a little impatient. They did a good job at their end making shots. We needed to win this game in regulation. We had our chances. I’m not making excuses; our kids played their hearts out and Celina played a very good ball game."
Celina senior forward Kahl LaRue did most of the damage in overtime. After getting a backdoor layup to fall, LaRue backed down 5-foot-8 Clearview guard Colin Watson for a layup and drew a foul in the process. It was Watson’s fifth and final foul of the game and LaRue hit the ensuing free throw.
"The guards did a good job of getting me the ball," LaRue said. "I just turned around with the open lane and shot it. It went in and then, I went to the free-throw line with confidence and knocked it down."
Later in the overtime, Clearview senior Kyle Baughman committed his fifth foul of the game. On his way to the bench, Baughman received a technical foul, the first against the Clippers all season. Celina scored five points on the free throws and possession.
"With him on the bench, they’re a whole different team, so I thought that was a good thing, him not being on the floor to penetrate and find the open man to shoot the ball," Bihn said of Baughman. "He’s a real nice player for them. Our guys did a nice job at knocking down free throws and we came up and scored on that possession. That was a big turning point."
Matt Florjancic is a freelance sports reporter and announcer for WOBL and WDLW Radio.
