“Every time Joe screened, they would double,” La Salle coach Dan Fleming said. “I said at halftime, ‘Joe, they’re not afraid of you whatsoever, you’ve got to slip to the basket.’ Finally, he slipped to the basket and got a layup.”
TOURNAMENT COVERAGE
≥≥ Cardiac Cats win district championship
≥≥ Special sports year for Springfield Wildcats
≥≥ Springfield tops Xenia in OT to win sectional
≥≥ Wildcats rout West Carrollton
≥≥ Springfield overwhlems Tecumseh in tourney opener
The teams traded leads eight times in the second half. Danny Davis hit a shot with about 40 seconds left in the game to give Springfield a 46-45 lead, but Hartmann scored on La Salle’s next possession.
Springfield coach Isaiah Carson said he had a timeout left, but opted not to take it after Hartmann’s basket. Michael McKay missed a 3-pointer with three seconds left, and La Salle got the rebound and ran out the clock.
“I thought about (taking a timeout), but (La Salle) was scrambling after that shot,” Carson said. “Danny had two guys that picked him up, then Mike had a look because a guy came and jumped at him. Mike did a great job of faking and he got a good look because of it. He’s a good shooter; he just didn’t come up with it there.”
La Salle led by seven at halftime and quickly extended the lead in the third quarter. Senior guard CJ Fleming hit two foul shots with 3:24 left to give the Lancers their largest lead of the game at 35-24.
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Springfield switched its defense and started a full-court press after that, and the results were immediate. La Salle turned the ball over four times in a four-minute stretch after making three turnovers in the entire first half.
“Believe it or not, we actually worked on that press for two days and we handled it well in practice, but not tonight,” Fleming said. “We turned the ball over, got excited, and made some boneheaded plays at times.”
Springfield cut the lead to 35-30 after a pair of free throws from McKay, then RaHeim Moss hit a basket and foul shot to cut it to two points with 1:05 left in the third. McKay hit a floater with about three seconds left to tie the score at 35-35.
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“Our fight is there,” Carson said. “We were in every ballgame this year. We fought to the end tonight but La Salle just made a good play. We just weren’t as fortunate.”
Moss had four points in the first quarter as Springfield built a 12-11 lead. Michael Wallace hit a basket early in the second quarter to increase the lead to 14-11, but the ‘Cats didn’t score over the next three minutes.
Fleming followed with a 3-pointer and three free throws, then Brandon Da’Meak hit a basket and foul shot to give La Salle a 20-14 lead with about four minutes left. The Lancers led 25-18 at halftime.
Springfield finishes 23-4. The Wildcats will lose six seniors to graduation, including Davis and McKay. Davis, who scored nine points Wednesday, is the school's all-time leading scorer and finishes with 1,774 career points.
“They’ve done awesome,” Carson said of Davis and McKay. “This program isn’t where it is at without those guys.”
McKay, Moss and Leonard Taylor scored 10 points each for Springfield. Fleming led La Salle with 15, while Tre Crigler scored 10.
Springfield made 18 of 40 shots, while La Salle was 16-of-28. The Wildcats had a 24-14 rebounding advantage.
“I thought both teams played hard, both teams made huge shots,” Fleming said. “We got lucky to win by one.”
La Salle advances to play Moeller in a regional final on Friday. The Crusaders beat Mason 60-57 in Wednesday’s first regional semifinal. Moeller beat La Salle twice in Greater Catholic League play in the regular season.
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