Saturday, January 30, 1999

Columbian lead fades to 3-point heartbreaker

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

Kade Dillon isn't sure. His coach isn't either. In fact, Columbian coach Matt Hutchinson was pretty noncommittal on the subject.

The official, however, was certain and he was the only one that mattered.

Dillon, the Northern Ohio League's leading scorer, was stifled all game by Columbian's defense, but placed a dagger in the Tornadoes' hearts when he hit a 3-pointer that just beat the final buzzer, lifting the Redmen to a 62-61 victory.

There were those who thought Dillon's foot was on the line and those who thought it was a clean 3. Heck, Dillon himself wasn't even sure.

''I don't even know; I was just shooting,'' said Dillon, who averages 23.9 points per game. ''I saw that (Columbian defender) jump up and I just pump-faked. I didn't even know what was going to happen (after the shot). I just saw the official raise his hand, and I knew it counted as a 3.''

From the Columbian viewpoint, the game should have never gotten to that point in the first place.

The Tornadoes (4-7, 3-4 NOL) had a 13-point lead in the third quarter, were shooting 59 percent (23-of-39) from the field and had choked off Dillon's scoring to just eight points to start the fourth quarter.

But Dillon kept pluging away and scored 10 points in the fourth to finish with 18, including the biggest three of the game.

''I wasn't looking at his feet; I was looking at the shot,'' TC coach Matt Hutchinson said. ''It looked to me like he was behind, but I was all the way back there.

''We went down (57-55), probably for the first time the entire game with two-and-a-half minutes left. But we battled back, got the lead back and they had to hit a 3 at the buzzer to beat us.''

A third opinion of the shot, from Bucyrus coach Dave Hirschy, offered little to settle the debate.

''To be honest, and I know I'm ducking this, but I'll have to watch the film, everybody said that he might have been on the line,'' said Hirschy, whose team improved to 5-5, 4-3 in the NOL. ''There was such a cluster right there I really couldn't even tell. I was watching to see if we had any offensive rebounding position.

''I don't want (the controversy) to take away from how hard our kids fought to get back in this game,'' he said. ''Columbian was on the verge of blowing us right out of this building.''

That was in large part to hot shooting, solid defense and the play of Craig Hill, who finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Hill played a big role in TC opening up a 46-33 lead with 3:28 left in the third. He scored four times on the blocks in the first four minutes of the quarter and also pulled down three rebounds.

But after the 3:38 mark, the Tornadoes hit just four shots from the field, and Bucyrus began marching to victory.

It all started when Clint Dillon (10 points) nailed a 3-pointer and followed that with a steal-and-bucket. Joe Binninx (20 points) freed himself for a 3 and a jumper along the baseline to bring the Redmen within 48-43.

It was 50-45 start the fourth, but TC did not score until Todd Focht's 3-pointer made it 53-52 in TC's favor, at the 5:42 mark.

But Kade Dillon scored and assisted a Brad Herb bucket to highlight a 7-2 mini run that gave the Redmen a 59-55 lead with 3:35 remaining.

Columbian got two foul shots apiece from Nate Nahm, Nick Shultz and Todd Focht(10 points) over the next three minutes to make it 61-59 before Dillon's heroics.

''I told our guys after the game that that was just an example of a big player making a big play,'' Hutchinson said. ''We've talked about us being in that situation and doing that. It hasn't worked out that way.''