Versailles bumps off host Butler 69-53

dayton daily news
By Marc Pendleton
January 15, 2006

VANDALIA | All Versailles wanted to do Saturday was test itself against a rare Division I opponent, stoke its postseason hopes and generally carry on the hard-to-beat legacy of recent Tigers teams. "This gives us a lot of confidence going into the tournament this year," said 6-foot-5 senior Zach Richard, who bulled for 18 mostly inside points in a convincing 69-53 defeat of host Vandalia Butler in the opening-day nightcap of the Flyin' to the Hoop boys basketball festival at the Student Activities Center. "With a strong North College Hill team. ... Well, we all know about them. I think that's going to help our focus meeting them." Such lookahead confidence comes from a 10-1 season run. The Division III Tigers have lost only to Covington in the second game, and although the 5-6 Aviators have slipped of late, its still a good nonleague road win against a D-I team. Adam Barga added 14 points for the Tigers and Jayson White 10. Eric Ahlers led Butler with nine points and Doug Palen and Josh Cornwelll added eight apiece. The tourney drew a crowd of about 3,000 and continues with six games today and five more on Monday.

• Troy 46, Grove City 43: Britten Alexander has a good grasp on rebounding. "It's not always how high you jump, but how you battle," said the Trojans' 6-4 frontliner. Alexander, the area's second-leading rebounder, snared his average (12). But the Trojans (5-6) almost didn't snap a two-game losing skid. That's because they donged 8-of-10 free throws in the final minute and hit just 10-of-27 overall. A.J. Bush tallied a game-high 17 points, none bigger than a trey to put the Trojans up for good 42-41 with 2:29 left. Down 12 early, Grove City (7-5) opened the second half with a 9-0 run to get back into the game. Alexander, who also scored 10 points, is determined to make the most of his first starting season. "At the end of last season, I decided that rebounds are my thing, and this year the points are coming with the rebounds," he said. "I have to step up because I know my team needs me." Seth Price led GC with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

• Community Christian (Ga.) 103, Cin. Roger Bacon 71: Solomon Tat, a 6-5 senior headed to the University of Virginia, had two dunks and a trey in the final minute to put CC in triple digits. The Knights likely wouldn't have surpassed the magic mark had they not unloaded full-court defensive pressure in the closing minutes. Tat scored 23 points for 23-0 CC, a tiny prep school anchored in Stockbridge, Ga. Petras Balocka, a 6-8 senior headed for Northeastern, added 20 points. The 4-6 Spartans are just four seasons removed from beating LeBron James and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in a D-II state final. They were led by Chad Koester's 25 points.

• Stoneridge Prep (Calif.) 61, New Creations (Ind.) 42: Shane Mahoney and Mamadou Diarra each scored 14 points and Herb Tanner added 11 as the Simi Valley prep school used its massive height advantage to take the day's opener. Stoneridge can field a lineup of five players between 6-9 and 7-1. New Creations' Dave Bryant — a midseason addition — tallied a game-high 22 points. Trevor Ferguson added 17 points and nine rebounds.