TROY — It is difficult to not have some fun when you’re winning games by more than 60.
It may be tougher to figure out how to remain sharp against overmatched competition.
Cedarville won its second Division IV sectional tournament game 85-9 against No. 13 East Dayton Christian on Wednesday at Troy High School. They have only allowed 32 points in tournament play.
“We’ve got our key points of what we think makes us play our best,” head coach Ryan Godlove said. “This is just good to remind our guys we have places to keep getting better. Let’s win, and let’s keep getting better with what we want to focus on and not create any bad habits.”
The Indians led 29-2 after the first quarter as East Dayton Christian was only able to score on a breakaway layup following a mishandle at midcourt.
Putting the exclamation mark on the end of a dominant first half, a pair of dunks by Noah Burr and Drew Koning’s second of the game help light up the Cedarville bench.
Cedarville has now led its two tournament games by a combined 104 points at halftime and has barely played its starters in the second half.
“You worked a lot in practice, and this is just a great opportunity to put things into play and let it see the game,” Jack Czerniak said. “You want to create good habits with games like this while still playing hard.”
The victory was the 20th by the Indians, marking four straight seasons they have reached the plateau.
A tougher test is more likely for Cedarville up next, but for now they are satisfied with enjoying some easy wins.
“You know they play because it’s fun and we definitely like that guys are having fun,” Godlove said. “We want to show good sportsmanship, but we also don’t want to take away them having a good time and reaping the benefits of their hard work.”
Cedarville will get a rematch from last year’s sectional final against Catholic Central on Saturday at 6 p.m.
No. 3 Catholic Central 49, No. 6 Legacy Christian 48
Legacy Christian head coach Steve Seitz hoped Catholic Central would tip its hand by calling a final timeout with 4.2 seconds remaining.
LCA got the shot they wanted, but Parker Burke’s attempt didn’t go down.
The Knights led throughout the first three quarters, but the Irish got the lead late and squeaked out a 49-48 victory in the second game of the night.
“I feel awful for him as it’s not his fault that we were in that position because as a team we win or lose,” Seitz said. “He had a good chance, had that good look, and it’s just not the outcome we were looking to get.”
A baseball pass across half court looked like it would be underthrown, but Burke came back to grab it. He turned to his right and got a relatively clean look at driving to the basket.
His running floater with a defender at his side was just too strong as the ball hit the glass and glanced off the far side of the rim as time expired.
Burke scored 20 points to lead the Knights, and Andrew Riddle had 14 in his final game. Jacob Thompson, LCA’s big man and third leading scorer, was riddled with foul trouble and didn’t register a point for the first time this season.
LCA battled to stay ahead in the initial three quarters until the Irish turned to their star, Tyler Galluch, who gave them their first lead with just over six minutes remaining. Galluch continued to get the ball on his way to a 35-point performance, but the Knights never wavered.
Legacy controlled its offense with simple passes and never appeared to be in a rush. They didn’t commit a turnover until the final minute of the second quarter and shot 50 percent from inside the arc in building a five-point lead at the break.
“We’re always stressing fundamentals and taking care of the basketball,” Seitz said. “Getting shots is what’s most important.”
A three in the corner by Blake Schwartzkopf tied the game at 45 with just over three minutes left and both sides traded points from there. The Irish turned to Galluch on an inbounds with nine seconds left and the score tied, and he was fouled from behind as he drove to the basket. He sunk one of two free throws for the winning basket.
Legacy Christian’s season ends with a 12-12 record.
“These just were great boys,” Seitz said. “They did everything that was asked and we had some good seniors too.”