Boys basketball: Godfrey’s fourth-quarter 3s help Hartley secure D-II district title
Saturday, March 9, 2024
By Scott Gerfen
sgerfen@cbussports.com
Hartley’s Ethan Godfrey holds the Division II district championship trophy as he celebrates with his teammates following the Hawks’ win over River Valley Mar. 9 at Central Crossing. Photo: Shane Flanigan
Ethan Godfrey isn’t a top scorer for the Hartley boys basketball team, but his six points in Saturday’s Division II district final at Central Crossing couldn’t have been bigger.
The senior guard’s two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter helped hold off second-seeded Caledonia River Valley 55-52 in a back-and-forth championship game fitting for the central district’s top two seeded teams.
“For the first three quarters I was scoreless,” Godfrey said. “I’m just playing my role, getting hustle plays and rebounds, and when the opportunity showed itself, I knocked my shots down.”
Godfrey’s first 3 cut River Valley’s lead to 44-43 with 4 minutes left, and Jakhi Calloway’s layup gave the Hawks the lead for good on the next possession.
Godfrey’s other 3-pointer put Hartley up 51-47 with 1:36 to play.
“He was prepared for the moment and shot it with confidence,” Hartley coach Andreas James said. “Win or lose, you want to go out being aggressive, and he didn’t think anything about it.”
Hartley did have to think about one last possession.
Although the Hawks led 54-47 with 37.9 seconds left, River Valley’s Carson Smith dropped in two free throws and Chase Smith hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to three.
At 55-52 with 5.9 seconds left, Hartley’s Jakhi Halloway then threw away the inbounds pass.
River Valley’s (19-6) final possession came down to Chase Ebert’s long 3-pointer that never hit the rim as time expired.
River Valley’s Chase Ebert draws a foul on Hartley’s Carson Svetek during a Division II district final game Mar. 9 at Central Crossing. Photo: Shane Flanigan
“I’ve been on our guys and telling them, a lot of these games are going to come down to situations, and we’ve been practicing those a lot,” Andreas said. “Fortunately, we were up three, so we could really overplay the three-point line.”
Calloway led the Hawks with 14 points, while Carson Svetek finished with 10.
Smith was the Vikings top scorer with 18 points, and Ebert added 11.
Jonathan Alder 54, Watterson 44
Peyton Heiss scored a game-high 31 points and made all 16 of his free-throw attempts, leading the Pioneers to a Division II district championship at Central Crossing, their first since 1979 in Class AA.
Sixth-seeded Alder avenged a regular-season loss to the fifth-seeded Eagles, who got as close as 31-30 with 6:30 left before the sixth-seeded Pioneers went on an 11-0 run.
“They really owned us three weeks ago,” said Heiss, a first-team all-district selection. “Preparation was a big factor today. … With the group of guys we have, we know how to fight through adversity.”
Jonathan Alder’s Peyton Heiss drives to the basket past Watterson’s Blaise Ohlin during their Division II district final game Mar. 9, 2024, at Central Crossing. Photo: Shane Flanigan
When accepting the championship trophy, Alder coach Derek Dicke, who spent eight seasons as an assistant at Hilliard Bradley, couldn’t help but think about his interview for the job two years ago.
“The community wanted a district championship … not that there was pressure, but they wanted one,” he said. “That’s been a goal for these since last year when I took over. I was playing six sophomores last year, and I was pretty much telling them, ‘I’m throwing you to the fire.’ Not that I didn’t want to win one in the first year, but it was a stepping stone.”
Alder (15-9) will play Kettering Alter in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. March 14 at Vandalia Butler.
Ryan Mark also scored in double figures for the pioneers, who made 25 of 29 free throws.
Jonathan Alder’s Blake Atkins defends Watterson’s Dominic Theado during their Division II district final game Mar. 9 at Central Crossing. Photo: Shane Flanigan
In a previous version of this story, we misidentified a player throwing away an inbound pass with 5.9 seconds left as Pharez Nicholas when it was actually Jakhi Halloway. We have updated this story with the correct player.