MOVIN' ON...is what the Vikings of Miami East are doing thanks to a trust between the players and the coach that they can overcome any obstacle by executing a game plan for an entire four quarters.

By Bob Moore
The Associated Press #3 Miami East Vikings and #4 Anna Rockets squared off in an epic battle at the Fred Raisk Arena at Wilmington College in the 2009 Division III Regional Semi Final. The Rockets were the defending Division III Regional Champs and the number one seed coming out of the Dayton sectional and Viking’s Coach Allen Mack noted last week that if the Vikings were going to win the Regional, it would be through the Anna Rockets. The Vikings won an exiting game as Dan Hickman hit two free throws with 19 seconds left in the game as the Vikings came back to win 46-44 to advance to the Regional finals against Dayton Christian.

“What a thrill for all of us involved with Viking basketball. I’m just so proud of our guys. To see their expression’s in the locker room and to hear the excitement in the voices that they beat Anna; our guys are just thrilled” a happy Allen Mack commented after the game.

An amazing victory for the Vikings considering they were down 7 points twice in the second half against a very good and athletic team from the Shelby County League. Each time they were down 7 points, Allen Mack called on old reliable and Hickman, Logan Cary, Kyle Karadak, Tyler Dunivan pulled out the half court 1-3-1 trap to narrow the gap.

The game is what you expected when a #3 and #4 ranked teams face off in the post season as the Vikings held a one point lead, 21-20 at the half. The Raisk Arena was packed to the gills in Viking Blue and Anna Green and the place was LOUD! It provided a great environment for high school basketball game.

In the 3rd quarter Hickman missed his first two 3 point attempts while the Rockets fired up a 9 - 2 point run that put them up 7 points, 23-30 with 5:43 remaining. Carey and Dunivan kept the Viking within striking distance. While Carey didn’t have his typical night scoring, each time he touched the ball in the second half on defense it resulted in points off turnovers for the Vikings. A steal by Carey ended up in Dunivan’s hands as he nailed his second jumper of the quarter to put the Vikings within 5, 25-30.

The Vikings narrowed the gap to 2 but the Rockets extended the lead back to 5 on a jumper by Zack Clark with 29 seconds remaining. Hickman nailed 5 shots from beyond the arc on the night and none were bigger than the NBA range jumper he hit at the end of the quarter to narrow the score to 35-37.

The 4th quarter mirrored the 3rd as Miami East got off to bad start with their first 3 possessions concluded in turnovers. Logan Carey hit a jumper at the 5:26 mark and that was the only counter East had in the first 5 minutes and 20 seconds of the quarter as Anna went on a 7 – 2 run.

Down 37 - 44 with 5 minutes to go in the game, Mack went again to the momentum changer in the 1-3-1 half court trap. The next 2 and half minutes appeared to be a stalemate as Anna controlled the ball out front and couldn’t hit a shot, while East came up empty two trips down the floor.

East kept up the pressure on the 1-3-1 and it appeared that Anna was going to try to let the air out of the ball as they didn’t attach the Miami East pressure. East remained patient and finally at the 2:42 mark Logan Carey stole the ball and found Hickman on the fast break for 2 points as he was fouled by Anna’s Alex Fogt. Hickman converted the 3 point play and the gap is cut to 4.

“Our 1-3-1 became very aggressive at that point” noted Mack. “They were looking to pass and maintain and we just didn’t want to foul and give in because there was so much time remaining. We didn’t want to turn it into a free throw game with 2 to 3 minutes to go. Fortunately we came up with a couple of steals and converted them and did not have to do that.”

The next possession Tyler Dunivan stole the ball from Derek Billing of the Rockets. Carey found Hickman when he broke free around a pick at the wing by the Miami East bench and launched a 3 that showed up on the National Weather Service Radar a few blocks away. The rainbow shot hit nothing but net as the Viking faithful went absolutely nuts!

After an Anna timeout, the Rockets shot a 3 from the corner that hits nothing and Aaron Mitchell is fouled on the rebound. Mitchell goes to the line to attempt and one and bonus in the regional semi-final with his team down one point and drained the first shot to tie the game at 44 with 1:30 remaining.

“To be in that position, be strong with the basketball, get fouled and come down and hit that free throw to tie the game; that really gave our guys a lift” noted Mack.

The East D caused enough havoc on the next possession that a timeout is called with a minute remaining. On the ensuing play for Anna they proceeded to throw the ball into corner and the Vikings were able to set the trap. Anna turned the ball over and the Vikings had the ball with under a minute to play.

After two timeouts the Vikings had the ball out of bounds on the side near the half court line. Derek Billing tried to make a play for his team but fouled Hickman to send him to the line with a one and bonus with 19 seconds left in the game. Hickman hit nothing but net on both tosses to put the Vikings up 2, 46-44!

The Rockets were unable to get a shot off and Miami East nearly stole the ball with 2 seconds remaining but Anna called a timeout with 1.8 seconds remaining. The Rockets were able to get the inbounds play in to their big man on the left side of the lane but the shot did not go. Miami East held Anna scoreless the last 5 minutes of the game to go on a 9-0 run to win the game!

Hickman ended the game with 26 points and while you say that it is a team game and Hickman couldn’t do it all himself; It is amazing the impact that one player can have on a game. His 3 point shot and free throws at the end of the game where huge.

“Dan came up big for us tonight” complimented Mack. “He played like an All Southwest District Player of the Year, All CCC Player of the Year, District 9 Coaches Player of the Year and I think everybody got to see that Dan Hickman tonight. Besides being good and being talented, he is tough mentally to go to the line in that situation and knock two free throws down. I’m not sure if either one of them touched the rim.”

“Logan and Tyler had some big steals when it really came down to crunch time” noted Mack. “The stats showed that we had 10 steals tonight and we’ve had way more than that in other games this year, but those two steals occurred in the game when it mattered the most. Tyler, Logan Dan and Kyle have lead us all year with that and the other guys have fed off of it.”

“Tonight we made the big plays and I’m really proud of our players” concluded Mack.

Miami East will face Dayton Christian in the Regional Finals at Wilmington College, Saturday, March 21st at 7:30 PM.

Scoring by quarters
Miami East…9…21…35…46
Anna………..8…20…37…44

Miami East
Hickman – 26 (5-12 from 3 pt range)
Karadak – 0
Carey – 4
Mitchell – 3
Dunivan - 7
Wolf – 0
Hershberger – 4
Beard – 2
(FG% 50% 17-34)(FT% 87.5% 7-8)
Total – 46

Anna
Hunsucker – 5
Billing – 0
Fogt – 5
Clark – 5
Snyder – 13
Finkenbine – 9
Zumberger – 3
Niekamp – 4
(FG% 41.7% 15-36)(FT% 66.7% 8-12)
Total 44

3 Point Goals
Miami East – 5 (Hickman)
Anna – 6 (Finkenbine 3, Hunsucker, Fogt, Zumberger)

Rebounds
Miami East – 17
Anna – 25

Turnovers
Miami East - 14
Anna – 13

Points off turnovers – Miami East 20 – Anna 15
2nd Chance Points – Miami East 4 – Anna 10
Fast Break Points – Miami East 8 – Anna 4
Points in the paint – Miami East 22 – Anna 14