The Lakota West vs. Princeton boys basketball game Friday was highly anticipated, one of the state's best. Here are three keys to the Firebirds' win.
A packed house of roughly 7,500 at Cintas Center saw a great showdown Friday night, Feb. 6.
Lakota West defeated Princeton 58-53 to take control of the Greater Miami Conference race and secure bragging rights until a potential postseason meeting. West was ranked No. 1 in the Ohio Super 25 media poll and Princeton fourth.
West improves to 18-1 and 13-0 in league play as the Firebirds seek their first league title since 2013 and first outright crown since 2006. Princeton drops to 14-2 and 11-2, taking its first loss since Dec. 5.
The electric environment boosted the hype for the Firebirds. The game sold out at Lakota’s West gymnasium two days prior, Feb. 4, and roughly 5,000 tickets were sold once the schools announced it would be moved to Cintas Center.
“That's what's Cincinnati basketball is about right there,” Lakota West head coach Kelven Moss said. “Awesome environment. I knew it was going to be big, but I didn’t think it was going to be 7,000 big. I told the guys, ‘Embrace this.’ Before they started the layup line, I said, ‘Look around. This is what you built. This is what you've been working towards. Have fun with it.’”
Said junior Roman Combs: “It was crazy. Very blessed that so many people came. It's once in a lifetime, but hopefully we can do it again, get further at state, and all those people come back.”
After Princeton took its first lead in the fourth quarter, 47-45, West ended the game on a 13-6 run.
Rognny Santiago’s 3-pointer for Princeton tied the game at 50. Bryce Curry, who missed a lot of the second half with foul trouble, hit a 3-pointer to give West the lead with 1:30 left. Princeton committed an offensive foul, and Andre Richardson scored two free throws to clinch the game.
Here are some keys to the win for Lakota West:
1. The Lakota West Firebirds basketball team was on fire early
West dominated from the start of the contest, leading 18-0 until late in the first quarter.
Princeton missed at least 10 shots in that span and turned it over several times, a total of 10 times in the first half.
Josh Tyson had 10 points in the run. Bryce Curry made two baskets in transition off of steals. Roman Combs scored on the break, and Tyson Davis scored a basket.
Princeton scored 5 points late in the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Rognny Santiago and a basket by Terrence Jones.
“We just went on a big run, got over our heads,” sophomore Andre Richardson said. “We listened to Coach. Coach talked us through it, and we knew what to do. I believe in every single one, one through 12. Every single person believes in each other, so that's all that matters.”
2. Roman Combs steps up for the Firebirds
Roman Combs, a 6-foot-6 junior who transferred from Cooper, brought a lot of big-game experience to West Chester after helping Cooper to the Kentucky state quarterfinals last season.
He had 15 points and seven rebounds, plus four steals. He scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, stepping up when Curry missed a lot of time with foul trouble.
He had 8 points in the third quarter. When Princeton took its only lead of the game, 47-45, early in the fourth quarter, he came right back with a layup to tie the game at 47-47.
Combs guarded Princeton star sophomore Kam Mercer all night. Mercer had 16 points and four rebounds. Several of his baskets were dunks in transition, but Combs did well on him in the halfcourt.
“He's really good,” Combs said. “But I knew I had to stay in front of him. Keep him in front, and I knew it would be hard for him.”
Said Moss: “Roman is athletic. He can guard pretty much one through five, and he wanted that challenge. We knew that with a player like Kam, we're not going to shut him down, but we just wanted to make it hard as heck for him all night.”
3. The Firebirds showed a lot of poise when they were tested
The Firebirds haven’t been tested very much this year. They were 2-1 in one-score decisions, but overall outscored their opponents by 20 points per game. They found a way to win a close game for the third time in four tries.
The Firebirds had chances to be deflated and fold after squandering that early 18-0 lead, then losing the lead in the fourth quarter on a 7-0 Vikings' run.
That didn’t happen. When Lakota West trailed 47-45 on a dunk by Mercer, it was Tyson who brought the team together.
“The most proud I was when Kam got the dunk, I called the timeout, and nobody panicked, and Josh and the whole team said, ‘We're good,’” Moss said. “They're going to go on runs. We're built for this. We've been in this moment, and they were ready to go.”
Richardson, who averages 6 points per game, stepped up in every phase of the game, finishing with 12 points and three assists.
“He's a big time player,” Moss said. “Sometimes he gets outshined because he's got some dogs around him, but he loves moments like that. I thought he made some big-time plays.”
Lakota West 58, Princeton 53
Lakota West 18 8 17 15 ‒ 58
Princeton 5 15 18 15 ‒ 53
Lakota West: Curry 3 0 7, Mamutse 1 0 2, Tyson 8 1 19, Richardson 3 5 12, Combs 7 1 15, Dunn 1 0 3. Totals: 23 7 58.
Princeton: Santiago 4 0 12, Johnson 1 1 4, Mercer 7 2 16, Phillips 0 3 3, Gill 6 3 16, Jones 1 0 2. Totals: 19 9 53.
Halftime: LW 26-20. 3-pointers: LW 5 (Tyson 2, Curry, Richardson, Dunn), P 6 (Santiago 4, Johnson, Gill).
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Takeaways from Lakota West vs. Princeton boys basketball showdown
Category: General Sports
