PIQUA — Botkins made a furious rally in the last 90 seconds of a Division IV sectional semifinal against Ansonia on Wednesday but couldn’t complete a comeback.
Ansonia held on to earn its first tournament win in 11 years by beating the Trojans 59-57. The Tigers advance to face Fort Loramie in a sectional final on Saturday at Piqua’s Garbry Gymnasium.
Ansonia led 53-42 with 1:30 left in the game, but Botkins scored six points in a nine-second span to get back in the game. Botkins scored 30 points in the fourth quarter after scoring 27 in the first three, but the Tigers made 16-of-17 free-throw attempts in the fourth to hold on.
“Give them credit; they hit free throws down the stretch and would not let us get any closer than we could,” Botkins coach Brett Meyer said. “But our effort in the fourth quarter was tremendous. You can’t fault us for not trying to finish out the game. A couple plays here, a couple plays there could have made the difference.”
The rally started when Botkins senior Ethan Butcher dove into the team’s bench to save a ball from going out of bounds. Tyler Free hit a 3-pointer from the left wing soon after to cut Ansonia’s lead to 53-45.
Butcher is the team’s lone senior.
“Ethan has done that his whole career,” Meyer said of Butcher’s hustle play. “That’s why, as far as the hustle and the things that he does, it’s going to be very, very tough to replace that. He’s going 100 percent all the time. His effort is awesome.”
Botkins put on a full-court press and stole the ball away from Ansonia, and Free followed with a layup and free throw after a foul with 1:21 left to cut the gap to five points.
Spencer Heuker hit a basket with 50 seconds left to bring the Trojans within 55-51. Conner Smock then made a free throw with 44 seconds left to pull the Trojans within three points, and after Ansonia responded with a pair of free throws, he made a basket with 31 seconds to bring Botkins within 57-54.
Devyn Sink made a pair of foul shots to boost the lead to five. Botkins missed several shots before Free hit a 3 at the buzzer to cut the final margin to two points.
Free and Heuker each led Botkins with 11 points, while Zane Paul and Butcher each scored nine. Butcher and Josh Madden each had six rebounds, and Madden finished with eight points.
The Trojans, which opened the postseason with a 40-38 win over Riverside last Saturday, finish the season 8-16.
“At the beginning of the year, people were wondering how we were going to be, being so young and having some injuries at the start,” Meyer said. “To finish the way we did, get a tournament win and finish strong in the fourth quarter tonight, I just think it shows what our potential could be coming up.”
With six of Botkins’ seven players on the court on Wednesday set to return next year, Meyer is optimistic for the team’s future. Among the returnees are three freshman in Paul, Free and Smock.
“That first tournament win was big for us, and though you don’t want any moral victories, I think the fact that we battled back in the fourth quarter showed them what their potential is, what they could be,” Meyer said. “They just need to make sure they follow through with the plan and keeping working over the summertime to make themselves better players.
“They were young, but we expect some good things about them in the future.”
Trevor Alexander led Ansonia with 19 while Sink finished with 15. The Tigers shot 17 for 45 (37.8 percent) from the field.
Botkins shot 21 for 53 (39.6 percent) from the field and outrebounded Ansonia 35-29. The Trojans made 9-of-14 free-throw attempts.
Ansonia took advantage of seven 3-pointers in the first half to build a 12-point lead over the Trojans. Heuker made a basket with 1:26 left in the first quarter to bring Botkins within 9-8, but Ansonia scored five points before the buzzer to take a six-point lead.
Andrew Rowland made a basket in the paint to give the Tigers a 22-11 lead with 3:25 left in the third. Ansonia led 29-17 at halftime.
“We just needed a little bit better start,” Meyer said. “I think Ansonia came out and shot the ball really well that first quarter, and that was tough to come back from. We had to spend a lot of energy in that fourth quarter.”
The Tigers made two 3-pointers in the second half after starting hot in the first.
“That was one of the things we talked about, that we had guard the 3-point line,” Meyer said. “You’ve got to guard the 3-point line and have a hand in their face. We just kind of lost some guys on screens and were pressing them some, and they beat our first wave of the press. They were finding guys in the corners and hitting those shots.”
Ansonia, the No. 6 seed in the sectional, will face the top-seeded Redskins at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
