DAYTON – The visiting Dunbar Wolverines (9-0, 5-0 DCL) beat Thurgood Marshall, 75-60, Friday night (1-8) in a highly-anticipated Dayton City League showdown that also had statewide ramifications.
Both teams are experienced and they are expected to make deep postseason runs.
The Cougars actually led this rivalry game after three quarters, 50-48, only to give up a devastating 12-0 run late in the fourth-quarter largely due to an impressive Dunbar defense, poor shot selection and a series of untimely injuries.
Thurgood Marshall, which lost to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s in the 2009 OHSAA Division II final, moves to 6-2 (3-1) on the year, with the loss.
“(This game) meant a lot to me because they put us out of the tournament last year – in horrible fashion” said MVP Star of the Game and Dunbar combo-guard Ryan Bass. “It was a big win for me, as well as for my teammates, to come back like that on their home floor.”
Bass led all scorers with 22. The defending DCL Player-of-the-year (and the likely 2010 POY, as well), Geron Johnson, contributed 17.
Deontae Hawkins (13) and Derrick Benson (11) also scored in double figures for the Wolverines.
“My hats off to Dunbar,” said Cougar head coach John Ralph. “They are extremely talented. They are tall. They played well. I thought both teams played well, but it just didn’t fall our way tonight.
“It became a 15-point game when we lost some players to injuries (a hip pointer and cramps) – and just at the wrong time, we went cold and couldn’t hit a shot.”
The decisive run was also a deceiving one as Dunbar didn’t increase its scoring output during that stretch, instead they just shut down the Cougar’s offensive production—cold.
“We’ve really been working hard on defense all of this week,” Benson said. “We’ve been doing sliding drills and that helped us out a lot with our feet. Since my freshman year my goal has been to play great defense, to become a lock-down player.
“(Tonight) we had to communicate. We had to switch. It was very ( a loud environment in there). We had to use hand signs, too.”
For their part, the Cougars started in a 2-3 zone, but were forced to switch into a box-and-one when the Wolverine guards and Johnson started to flash into the lane to exploit lucrative dishing opportunities in the second half.
Greg Gainey (15), Jordan Watson (10), and James White (10) all scored in double figures for T-M.
Standout Cougar point guard Shawn Robinson only scored 8 points, but was otherwise extremely impressive, both on offense and defense.
The play of the game had to be when Dunbar head coach Pete Pullen called for the picket-fence (check it out at 2:34 of the MVPpostgame video).
The Wolverines cleared the lane with a counter-clockwise wheel motion and Benson lobbed the rock to Johnson who finished with Daequan-Cookesque grace and explosion.
Plays like that involve a lot of hard work and require serious execution.
“Sand the floor!” Mr. Miyagi counseled Daniel-san in regards to hard work and flawless execution in the sports cult-classic, The Karate Kid. “Paint the fence!”
These rivals meet again, at Dunbar, on February 12. Every basketball season is like a death march. You just have to love the Dayton City League.
