South Warren will have at least another game to play.
The Spartans – seeded fourth in the District 14 Boys’ Tournament – defeated fifth-seeded Warren East 77-66 on Monday night to earn a matchup with top-seeded Bowling Green in Tuesday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinal at Warren East High School.
“This play-in game’s good for you because you get a tournament atmosphere and you get to play in a every-possession-counts kind of situation against a team on their home court that’s got several seniors that don’t want to go out,” South Warren coach Blane Embry said. “I told them, ‘Do not take this for granted because this will be a war and you better be ready for it.’”
South (14-14) trailed 16-13 after the opening quarter but outscored Warren East 23-20 in the second to even the scoreboard at 36-36 at halftime. The Spartans carried their explosive offense over to the third period and outscored the Raiders 22-11 to build a 58-47 advantage and didn’t look back.
Tyler Martin led the way for South Warren with 17 points and was one of six Spartans to finish in double figures. Jace Carver scored 13 points, Tayshaun Jones, Cameron Harrison and Caden Veltcamp each tallied 11, while Gavin Spurrier added 10.
“Sometimes it’s a benefit playing in these play-in games,” Martin said. “Coming in here and playing this game and shaking it off and getting a dub and then moving on knowing you’ve already played a game going into it is a pretty big benefit.”
Bryson Wallace paced Warren East (11-18) with 17 points in its season-ending defeat.
Warren East was the aggressor in the opening quarter, jumping out to a 12-4 lead at the 3:20 mark after a score from Wallace. Another basket from Wallace quickly made it 14-4, but South Warren regrouped and battled back to get within 16-13 after one.
Both sides’ offenses were put to work in the ensuing period.
Behind 43 combined points, the Raiders and Spartans exchanged buckets all throughout the second. A pair of Dawson Doyle free throws gave East a 24-23 lead at the 4:21 mark before four quick points on back-to-back possessions helped South tie it at 28-all at the 2:36 mark.
“I like how we got behind maybe 10 or something in the first quarter and didn’t panic,” Embry said. “We have done a good job with that so far this year. We actually tend to execute much better when we do get behind and know that we need our offense and need to work around and get good shots.”
Harrison’s layup put the Spartans up 36-34 at the one-minute mark, but Adante Barber – who scored the Raiders’ final eight points of the quarter – recorded a basket to even the scoreboard at 36-all at the break.
South Warren inherited much momentum in the second half.
With things knotted at 44-all, Jones made a 3-pointer – and South Warren ultimately assembled a 7-0 run – to build a 54-46 lead at the 1:47 mark of the third quarter. Three straight points from the Spartans – highlighted by Veltcamp’s and-one – gave them a double-digit advantage of 58-47 entering the fourth.
“It was a couple of two-to-three-minute stretches (that hurt us),” Warren East coach Brandon Combs said. “It’s kind of a microcosm of our district season. We would be really close and lead in the second half and then we’d squander the lead. We’ve got a lot of experience going forward and we’ve gotta use the offseason to get stronger.”
Barber’s score brought Warren East within 60-52 at the 5:54 mark, but Carver followed up with a pair of free throws to put South Warren up 62-52. Soon after, four straight free throws from the Spartans – three of those from Carver – pushed their lead to 68-55 with just under three minutes left.
Leading by double-digits, South Warren was able to hold off Warren East and extend its season another day.
“We are feeling really good,” Martin said. “Our defense was really good tonight, so we hope to use that going forward against (Bowling Green).”
Warren East – 16 20 11 19 — 66
South Warren – 13 23 22 19 — 77
