March 25, 2000
Greenview one win away from championship
By Pat Magers
Sports Writer
COLUMBUS &emdash; They have never been here before, but they act like they have. Better still, Jamestown Greenview stands one win away from a state championship.
As tournament teams go, Greenview has been pretty much of a bust through the years. The Rams, unranked this season despite a 23-4 record, not only are state tournament rookies, they've only advanced beyond the district tournament one other time in school history. In 1993, Greenview made it to the regional and was knocked out in the semifinals.
Now, thanks to a thrilling 51-50 win over Lima Central Catholic Friday, the Rams have a spot in Saturday's 5 p.m. Division III title game at the Jerome Schottenstein Center. They will take on top-ranked Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, a 63-53 winner over Canal Winchester.
It wasn't easy for Greenfield by any means.
Lima Central Catholic led by one at 50-49 on Jason Stump's basket with 45 seconds to play. Greenview failed at the other end and LCC's Adam Stolly came up with a loose ball , drawing a foul from Greenview's Trevor Thomas in the process. An official discovered Stolly's knee was bleeding, however, and sent the second-team All-Ohioan to the sideline.
Rules require a substitute to shoot free throws in that situation. Coach Bob Seggerson inserted Brian Ngwabo, whose first attempt on a one-and-one rolled off.
The Rams boarded and Thomas knocked down a 15-foot jumper with 13 seconds remaining to provide the winning margin. But the 12th-ranked Thunderbirds still had a chance.
Stolly took the inbounds pass and dribbled down the sideline as the clock wound down. He caught a double-team just after he crossed the time line and drew contact from Greenview's Josh Carter. The officials' options were to call a foul or rule Stolly to have stepped out of bounds. The latter choice sealed the Rams' win.
"We just wanted to play straight-up man-to-man defense," Greenview coach Bill Green said. "We wanted to get him to go down the sideline if we could because that would take away half of the court and we were able to do that. We wanted to be straight up and keep everything in front of us."
Stolly acknowledged contact, but for the most part, shrugged it.
"There was a lot of bumping going on the whole game," the second-team All-Ohioan said. "I thought I got bumped, yeah, but that's the way it goes. I thought I might get a call, but I didn't."
YEAR OF TOUGH LOSSES, CAREER OF TOUGH LOSSES: Lima Central Catholic's five losses this year have been by a total of 10 points, including a pair of three-point decisions to Delphos St. John's (53-50) and Vandalia Butler (51-48).
In state tournament play, Seggerson's teams have been state runners-up twice and have fallen in the semifinals three times by a total of eight points.
"We lost to (Columbus) Wehrle (83-81) in '89, we lost by one to Fort Loramie (43-42 in 1993), we lost to Berlin Hiland (64-62 in 1992), we lost on a last-second shot (55-53 to Youngstown Ursuline in 1994) and we lost by one today," said Seggerson, his voice cracking with emotion. "It's a little like picking a scab. I have never viewed it as fate or a hex or anything like that.
"My expereience, not only with these guys, but with all the guys before them, has been nothing but positive and I won't let anyone say otherwise," he said. "We're a tough out. When you run into LCC in the tournament, you're in for a tough battle.
"We've been down here five times in the last 11 years and we didn't just walk down here," he said. "I'm so proud of all of them; we've never put a bad game on the floor. I'd hate to be judged on just whether or not you win a state championship. I'm sure there are a lot of great coaches who haven't won it and maybe some mediocre coaches who have snuck in there.
"We're going to keep trying to get down here and if we do, we're going to play with heart and play with class and just stick with it until we get it right."
THE FUTURE IS NOW, AND NEXT YEAR, AND NEXT YEAR, AND...: Not only does Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary put an impressive package on the floor, it is also a youthful one.
Senior first-team All-0hioan Maverick Carter is a steadying influence to be sure. Against Winchester, Carter canned 8-of-11 from the field on the way to a game-high 26 points.
But the best talent on the floor may well be freshman LeBron James. The 6-foot-4 James scored 19, led all rebounders with 11 and added two blocks and three steals for the winners.
And if that isn't enough, he has three classmates who play major roles on the Irish varsity. Sian Cotton is a man-child at 6-4 and 250 pounds, Willie McGee is a 6-3 leaper who provides further strength inside and Dru Joyce, a fan favorite at 5-2 and maybe 100 pounds, backs away from no one in the backcourt.
But James clearly is the future ringleader.
"I wasn't nervous out there at all to be honest," James said. "Even when I got my fourth foul (with 3:45 left in the third period), I wasn't nervous. I've never fouled out in my whole career. I just wanted to prove I can come out and play with the big boys. Our freshmen, we all play our hardest to show we belong."
Coach Keith Dambrot, whose career has included head coaching jobs at Tiffin University, Ashland University and Central Michigan University before his arrival at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, sees big things for James and his mates.
"When I was an assistant at Eastern Michigan, I saw three guys who went to the NBA and are still there," Dambrot said. "LeBron's got that kind of ability.
"Some guys think I'm overzealous and he's definitely got some things to work on even though I'm not going to tell you what they are," Dambrot said. "But the thing is, he understands he's got things to work on. He knows when to be serious and when to have fun. Watching him is uncharted water for me, too. I've never seen a 15-year-old like him."
A ONE-TWO 1,000-POINT PUNCH: Canal Winchester senior Ricky Jordan tossed in 20 points, including 16 in the first half. The 20 points gave him an even 1,000 for his career and allowed him to join classmate Greg Guiler in topping that career plateau. Guiler finished with 10 against the Irish.
Although Winchester (24-2) figured to be a decided underdog, the Indians hung with St. Vincent-St. Mary until the final two minutes. It was 55-53 with 2:55 to go before the Irish began to seal the win with free throws.
The Indians were outrebounded, 41-23, but the deciding factor, coach Kent Riggs said was shooting.
"We did a lot of the things we wanted to do," Riggs said. "But when you shoot 34 percent from the field and 58 percent from the foul line, you're not going to beat a good team like Akron.
"Last Saturday (against Malvern in the regional title game), we made 20-of-22 from the line," he said. "You can credit their defense for our field goal percentage, but you hav to shoot better than that from the line."
Guiler said the Indians were lacking one little push in key moments.
"It seemed like we were always one or two plays away from getting ahead," he said. "We'd get there and put up a big shot. You could hear the crowd get ready to explode, but the shot would miss and there was a hush. We couldn't get the big shot."