'Skins hold off Tigers for state berth

KETTERING - When the time came for the St. Henry Redskins to step up, they stepped up.

St. Henry turned a two-point lead after three quarters into a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter and hit clutch free throws down the stretch to defeat Jackson Center 46-43 to win the Division IV regional championship on Friday night at Trent Arena in Kettering.

The Redskins (24-3) travel to the Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University next Friday for a noon contest against Berlin Hiland. The Hawks defeated Glenwood 75-32 to win the Ohio University regional. The 2 p.m. semifinal pits Richmond Heights against Crestview.

"It says how mentally tough they are," said St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck of his team's determination to advance to state for the first time since 2004. "We talked all season about being the most mentally tough and mentally ready team in the state. Our seniors showed that tonight."

With Jackson Center looking to keep the game at a slower pace, defense was at a premium over the first three quarters of the game. Neither team could get into a shooting touch as the Tigers' biggest lead of the game came when they were up 5-1 early in the first quarter. St. Henry rebounded to trail 8-6 after eight minutes and then were down 18-17 at the half after Ethan Thieman converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 3.2 seconds remaining.

Zach Niekamp, held to two points in the first half, scored the first five points of the third quarter to give St. Henry a 22-18 lead with 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the quarter. Jackson Center's Trent Platfoot quickly gave back the lead to the Tigers with six straight points, making a 3-pointer and a hoop-and-harm 3-point play. The teams traded ties three times before Jay Knapke scored with a second remaining to give St. Henry a 28-26 lead going into the fourth quarter.

After the teams went scoreless on their first possessions of the fourth quarter, St. Henry went back into its playbook and spread the floor, which forced Jackson Center to come out of its closed-in zone that kept the Redskins' Caden Niekamp in check for most of the game. With the paint opened up, Caden Niekamp scored to get the ball rolling. After a Tiger missed basket, Knapke got the stickback and then Zach Niekamp scored to give St. Henry its biggest lead of the night at 35-26.

"We thought we were a little bigger and stronger to get us to the fourth quarter with the lead," said Rosenbeck. "We thought we could get to the front of the rim or get open 3s. That's exactly what happened."

The Tigers (22-6) tried to get closer, but the Redskins came up with the key points, either with Zach Niekamp hitting free throws or Caden Niekamp getting bunnies under the basket. But after Caden Niekamp scored with 1:29 to go to put the Redskins up 41-32, Platfoot caught fire, hitting a trio of free throws before knocking down a trey with 33.6 seconds remaining to cut the Redskin lead to 43-40.

Forced to foul, Jackson Center put Zach Niekamp on the line. The senior made both tosses to make it a five-point game. Platfoot dropped another trey in with 19 seconds left to get the Tigers to within two. This time, Knapke was fouled and went to the line with 15.1 seconds left. He missed the front end of the one-and-bonus. T.J. Esser tried a trey, but missed as Caden Niekamp rebounded and passed to Zach Niekamp, who was fouled with 3.1 seconds to go. Zach Niekamp one of two free throws. The desperation half-court try was well short as the Redskins rebounded, waited for the horn and then started to celebrate.

"Overall, I think we did pretty good for 3 1/2 quarters until Platfoot went crazy," said Rosenebeck of the Redskins' game plan. "Give our kids credit for making enough plays down the stretch to win the game."

Zach Niekamp scored 15 for St. Henry with Knapke adding 11. Caden Niekamp was held to nine points but had 11 rebounds and dished out a team-high three assists.

Platfoot scored 15 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Tigers.

Now, the Redskins are two wins away from their fifth state basketball title in school history.

"Our goal was not to make it to state, but win state," said Rosenbeck. "Nineteen seventy-nine, 1990 and 1991 and 2004 (the years St. Henry previously won titles). About every 10 years, St. Henry produces a state-calibre team. We want to win this thing."