Summit survives scare in regional semi
KETTERING - Summit Country Day senior Sam Martin saved the Silver Knights’ season. Down 32-31 with 15 seconds left – the first time Summit trailed late in the fourth quarter this season – Martin attacked the basket with the speed and athleticism of a cheetah and finished with a left-handed reverse layup to put his team back on top, 33-32.
Senior T.J. Walker added two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to help the Silver Knights remain unbeaten (26-0) in a 35-32 win – their closest margin of victory this season – over Worthington Christian Wednesday night in a Division III regional semifinal at Kettering Fairmont’s Trent Arena.
“So far in the tournament, we’ve been playing well. We’ve had a pretty easy ride, relatively easy,” said Martin. “We haven’t really been tested like this before. We have a team full of seniors.
“I remember I looked up at the clock, there’s 24 seconds left and I was thinking, ‘I could be sitting at home on my couch tomorrow instead of going to practice. That kind of thing, when you’re faced with your season ending and you can pull it out, that’s definitely a boost of confidence. We learned a lot about ourselves when it came down to crunch time.”
Martin said he expected to be double-teamed away from the basket on his game-winning drive. He was right, but he cut right through it.
“I knew once I got in the lane they were all just gonna collapse,” said Martin, who finished with eight points. “I got in there and it was really spaced out and … we got a win. I actually didn’t see the ball hit the glass so when I turned around and saw it roll through the net … not a feeling like that.
“When I watch the film I’ll be telling myself that wasn’t the best shot, but when you get in the game and it comes down to it, you’re not thinking, you’re just playing.
“I, kind of, was waiting for my moment a little bit cause they were denying me and double-teaming and I felt like that was my moment. Tried to take advantage of it, luckily it went in.”
Summit coach Pat Cosgrove said, “When you have a guy like (Martin) and he’s the best player on the floor and you know they don’t want him to touch it and we want him to get it … I’m talking to my assistants and one of them is his dad (Scott Martin). I’m saying, ‘If Sam has it, I can live with whatever happens.’ Sometimes people overthink the game. Put the ball in the best player’s hands and live with what happens.”
Summit didn’t play its best basketball, but still found a way to win with a season-low 35 points to advance to its second consecutive regional championship on Saturday night back at Trent Arena against the winner of Roger Bacon (22-4) and Versailles (25-1).
“I mean, it beats the hell out of losing,” said Cosgrove. “What I told them is we have to learn from a close victory because there are no lessons you can learn from a loss this time of year cause you’re done. I told their coach, he did exactly what I would have done and he had the athletes to do it. Quite honestly, I got outcoached for 31 minutes and 45 seconds and my best move was not doing anything when I didn’t call timeout. I just let Sam go. I figured, ball in his hands, what am I gonna do?”
Summit scored its first points of the fourth quarter with 1:34 left in the game. The Silver Knights led 30-23 after three quarters and 22-16 at halftime.
“I think at one point we were 1-for-8 from inside two feet. The game was exactly the way they would have scripted it. It was the complete opposite of the way we would have scripted it,” said Cosgrove.
Summit’s first 18 points originated from beyond the arc. Seniors Alex Dahling and Walker went back and forth firing from distance, going a combined 6-of-6 from 3-point to start the game. Summit actually didn’t score from inside the arc until Andrew Bissmeyer finished at the rim with 4:40 left in the first half.
Worthington Christian settled for patience at the offensive end, trying to limit Summit’s high-powered offense at the other end. The Warriors outscored Summit 16-13 in the second half and 9-5 in the fourth quarter.
Walker finished with a team-high 15 points and Dahling finished with 11.
Summit will face the winner of Roger Bacon and Versailles for a regional championship on Saturday night.