SIDNEY — Sidney struggled to keep up with Tippecanoe when the teams faced off in Tipp City last month.
Heading into the second Miami Valley League matchup between the two on Tuesday, Sidney coach John Willoughby stressed to players defensive intensity was needed.
While the Yellow Jackets made mistakes, their defensive intensity was there throughout the game, and it was too much for Tippecanoe to deal with.
Sidney overcame a slow first quarter, built a 10-point lead in the third quarter and battled back after losing the lead to earn a 45-42 victory in a crucial Miami Valley League game.
It was the lowest scoring output this season by the Red Devils. Outside of a 46-44 loss to Vandalia-Butler on Jan. 7, Tippecanoe has scored at least 56 points in every game.
“Defensively, we were outstanding,” Willoughby said. “… All their players can shoot the heck out of the ball. To defend the way we did tonight, battle inside, was exceptional.”
The victory keeps the squad in the hunt for the overall MVL title. Both the Yellow Jackets (16-4, 14-2 MVL Valley) and Tippecanoe (14-3, 12-2 MVL Miami) each have two league losses. All other teams have at least four league losses.
Sidney has two MVL games left to close out regular season. The squad is scheduled to travel to West Carrollton (10-7, 9-6 MVL Valley) on Thursday in a makeup game, then is scheduled to return home and host Greenville (3-16, 3-12 MVL Miami) on Friday.
“It’s never comfortable going down to West Carrollton,” Willoughby said. “It’s a tough place to play, and tough playing on a Thursday.
“We just preached to them after this game that this means nothing if we’re not going to come ready to play on Thursday. The effort they showed tonight absolutely means nothing if they don’t come to play Thursday.
“No matter taking pictures or whatever after this game and people telling you you did a great job, if our minds aren’t right on Thursday, this means nothing. …We’ve got to be ready, and be ready for (West Carrollton’s) run and jump press.”
Sidney led 30-25 at the end of the third quarter. Tippecanoe rallied in the fourth, thanks in part to a series of turnovers by the Yellow Jackets.
Stanley Clyne made two free throws with about 2:30 left to give Tippecanoe a 39-38 lead. After a Sidney turnover, Maddox Sivon made a basket off the glass to push the Red Devils’ lead to 41-38 with just over two minutes left.
Sidney turned it over again, but Sam Reynolds got a steal, drove down the court and made a basket as we was fouled by Sivon.
Sivon was called for a technical foul, and Reynolds split a pair of free throws with 1:18 left to tie it 41-41.
Reynolds, a junior wing guard, led the Yellow Jackets with 18 points.
“Sam’s so good at finishing around the basket,” Willoughby said. “It was outstanding.”
The Yellow Jackets got the ball after the foul and drained over 30 seconds on the possession. After several passes, Jaden Swiger took the ball on the left wing, drove inside and scored off the glass to give Sidney a 43-41 lead with about 42 seconds left.
Swiger, a senior forward, finished with 14 points.
“Jaden came to play the second half,” Willoughby said. “We sat him quite a bit in the first half. He didn’t seem right, was kind of giving up on the defensive end. Mitchell (Davis) came in and played well and saw us through (that stretch with Swiger on the bench).
“But I thought we closed the first half out well without Jaden. We tried to get his mind right, and he had a heck of a second half.”
Tippecanoe drained the clock and called two timeouts on its next possession. The Red Devils lost the ball when Landon Davis grabbed a pass that was tipped by Liam Poronsky, and Poronsky immediately fouled him.
Landon Davis split a pair of free throws to push the lead to 44-41 with 8.4 seconds left.
The Yellow Jackets fouled Poronsky with four seconds left. He made his first free-throw attempt and missed his second. The missed shot failed to hit the rim, and Sidney was given the ball as a result.
The Yellow Jackets inbounded the ball to Myles Vordemark, who was fouled with three seconds left. He split a pair to push the gap to 45-42.
Poronsky launched a shot from half court at the buzzer, and it hit off the rim.
“It was a little scary there,” Willoughby said. “We hit some free throws there in the end. I thought his shot from half court was in — after he traveled. He traveled (before he shot it).”
The Red Devils, which beat Sidney 67-60 on Jan. 4, led 9-6 at the end of the first quarter and scored the first basket of the second to take an 11-6 lead.
The Yellow Jackets dominated the rest of the half. Vordemark made a basket with about 40 seconds left to tie it 15-15, and Swiger drew a foul with about three seconds left and split a pair of free throws to cap off a 10-4 run to end the quarter and give Sidney a 16-15 halftime lead.
The Yellow Jackets dominated the first half of the third quarter. Reynolds made a 3 from the left wing with 3:35 left to cap off an 11-2 run to start the third and give Sidney a 27-17 lead.
But Tippecanoe scored five points in the next 30 seconds and later pulled within 27-25, but Swiger made a basket and hit a free throw for a three-point play with 44 seconds left to push the lead to five points heading into the fourth.
Though Sidney made some late turnovers, Willoughby said the squad’s ball handling was much better than the January matchup against the Red Devils. He also credit Landon Davis and Mitchell Davis’ defensive and rebounding efforts.
“Mitchell came in (in the second quarter) and settled us,” Willoughby said. “He got in and got some rebounds for us. We’re trying to get him to dominate inside offensively and on the boards. He’s only a sophomore, so we’re trying to get him to be the man and ready for the next few years.”
Gavin Garlitz led Tippecanoe with 13 points. Sivon finished with eight. Clyne, who averages 15.6 points per game, was held to four.
