THE REAL DEAL...are Dan Hickman and the Miami East Vikings after a big week that included wins over Covington and Bethel.

By Bob Moore
The Miami East – Bethel game was predicted to be an instant classic. It was so good that Miami East coach Allen Mack stated that it reminded him of the classic battles when both clubs had teams contenting for State Championships. The JV game ended with the winning shot dancing on the rim before it fell at the buzzer and that was only the salad before the main entrée. No basketball fan left hungry after watching this feast between backyard rivals.

You knew you were in for a treat when Miami East won the JV game on a shot at the buzzer that made time stand still as the ball took a good shooters bounce off the front of the rim, backboard and back of the rim before taking that baby hop to send the ball to the bottom of the net.

Miami East had every intention of making the game appear as a blowout in the first quarter. Dan Hickman was like Ginsu knife of the infamous infomercials of the 70’s and 80’s as he sliced and diced the Bethel defense leading the transition game with his no look passes and deadly shooting. Tyler Dunivan was the beneficiary of several of those no look deliveries as he finished the quarter with 8 of his 14 points for the game. East would end shooting a hot 10 for 15 in the first stanza.

Bethel appeared shell shocked in the first quarter as they adjusted to the Miami East zone D and worked through the absence of starting guard Daniel Yates.

Coach Chris Endres called a timeout with 3:31 left in the first quarter to stop the bleeding as the Bees were down 10, 8 – 18. The adjustment served the Bees well as Jon Sutton scored his only bucket of the first quarter and Michael James drained his first of 3 treys of the evening from the left corner. Bethel played even with the Vikings the rest of the quarter and trailed 16 – 26 at the end of one.

The second quarter started fast again for the Vikings as Logan Carey and Justin Hershberger benefitted from passes from Hickman that propelled Miami East to a 16-30 lead that forced Endres to call another timeout.

The timeout cooled down the Miami East offense and allowed Bethel’s point guard Jon Sutton find the combination in unlocking the catalyst that would lead Bethel back into contention and take what appeared to be a sure victory from the Vikings.

Sutton led the comeback with a pair of free throws that began a 13 – 6 run for the Bees. Sutton added 5 more points in the quarter as Bethel benefitted from second chance buckets off the offensive glass from Scott Masin and Nick McIntosh. The Bethel run at the end of the half allowed them to climb with 7, 29 – 36.

The momentum continued for Bethel into the second half as Sutton helped the Bees penetrate the Miami East zone to create shot opportunities for himself and his teammates. The big guys underneath also had some nice passes as Tim Walter and James scored buckets in the paint to spur Bethel into a 4 point run that cause Allen Mack to call a timeout with just over a minute expired in the quarter.

Down by 3 points the Bees continued the assault. After narrowing the margin to one point, James struck lightning again in the corner that gave Bethel their first lead, 38 – 36 with 5:47 remaining that forced Mack to take his second timeout in the first 3 minutes of the half.

Miami East finally cracked the ice at the 5:23 mark as Tyler Beard made it to the line and sank a free throw to narrow the gap to one. Beard finished the game with 7 points but even being outsized by a half foot inside made key baskets in the paint and was one of the cogs in holding Scott Masin to 9 points for the game.

The Vikings continued to run the motion offense to perfection. Kyle Karadak scored his only 2 points of the game off the peel to the elbow for a 10 foot jumper that gave East the lead, 38 – 39.

The East D was able to get Masin into foul trouble as he picked up two quick charging fouls that sent the Bees leading scorer to the bench for the remainder of the 3rd. Allen Mack noted in his post game comments that it was a key that changed the momentum of the game. Miami East was able to hold Masin scoreless in the second half.

“At half time I told the team that Sutton and Masin were their keys. I really credit our post people down inside. Tyler Dunivan had a great game with his quick hands and he was able to get to a lot of balls that he made it tough for entry passes to enter the inside. Also Tyler Beard, Aaron Mitch and Evan Wolfe did a great job in trying to keep him (Masin) in check. He hurt us bad in the first half on the offensive boards. We had back to back charges on him in the second half and that was a key point in the game.”

Mack also used the opportunity to change the East D and threw a 1-3-1 half court trap at the Bees. It slowed down the Bees enough for the Vikings to build a 6 point lead. However, Jon Sutton breathed life into the lungs of the Bee faithful with two free throws and big three at the end of the quarter that put them within one, 45 – 46.

The Bees held Hickman scoreless through the 3rd quarter and it appeared that the relentless D of Sutton was wearing the Viking senior down, but as the saying goes; ‘It is hard to put a good man down.’

The two teams slugged it out at the beginning minutes of the final stanza exchanging the lead. Walters put the Bees up with two free throws. Wolfe netted a huge stickback with Mitchell on the bench with an ankle injury for the Vikings. Sutton and Dunivan exchanged nice drives down the lane.

Hickman finally found a gap in the Bethel defense for two points down the lane. After a Vikings stop on defense, Hickman followed on the next possession with a trey that forced Endres to call a timeout with 5:41 remaining. East maintained a 4 point lead for the next 4 minutes of the game.

Sutton sparked another Bethel comeback with 2 free throws with just over 2 minutes remaining in the half. 25 seconds later Sutton connected on a shot from beyond the arc that gave Bethel the lead 59 – 58.

Miami East missed on the next possession it appeared Bethel may have found the swing in the momentum to carry them to victory, but Sutton drove the lane only to be stopped by the Vikings on the block. Hickman scored quickly on the next possession that gave East the lead, 59 - 60.

Bethel turned the ball over on the next possession and in the ensuing chaos of Miami East gathering in the ball near the half court; it appeared that Sutton stole the ball back for Bethel. To the home crowd over whelming disapproval, the referee whistle signaled that Allen Mack called a timeout before the steal.

“I saw that we were in a scramble situation in the back court and we weren’t organized as far as looking down the floor and having people spread out” noted Mack. “Usually Dan (Hickman) will find people down the court when there is a lot of traffic, but I just had a sense we needed to burn one here. Fortunately, we got the timeout before the take away.”

Hickman and the Vikings were able to burn 30 seconds off the clock before the Bees forced Hickman to the line for a one and bonus with 18.6 seconds left. Hickman missed the front end of the bonus and the Bees huddled with 12.1 second remaining to organize a game winning bucket. Sutton gave the Bees hope throughout the night but his shot attempt down the lane wouldn’t fall.

Hickman redeemed his previous effort with 2 free throws off the one and bonus with 3.5 second left that gave the Vikings a 3 point lead 59-62. Instead of giving the Bees a 3 point attempt at the buzzers, Hickman fouled Sutton in a non-shooting situation that put him on the line with a one and bonus with 0.3 seconds left. Sutton nailed the first shot but Bethel was unable to get the tip in attempt to tie the game as Miami East’s Evan Wolfe gathered in the rebound to secure the victory.

“I’m extremely proud of all our kids” noted an emotionally drained Chris Endres after the game. “They played their butts off tonight.” “Give Miami East a lot of credit. Allen Mack does and great job and they ran their motion offense extremely well tonight.”

“Jon Sutton is a warrior” continued Endres noting the play of his point guard and 26 point performance. “For him to play that entire game at that level of intensity; I thought he and the entire team did a good job on Hickman tonight.” “All of our kids are warriors. I’m really proud of them.”

“That brought back a lot of memories from a few years back” noted Coach Mack and remembering hard fought battles of yesteryear. “This one was sure a classic to go right along with those games.”

“Dan (Hickman) had a great game for us and hit some key free throws there at the end” Mack continued. “Sutton had a great game for Bethel and without Yates in the game he was definitely more aggressive offensively. He was tough to stop tonight. I certainly give Bethel a lot of credit. Coach Endres is doing an outstanding job that will bring back all their starters next year. He’s done an outstanding job of getting a young team to this point.”

Mack noted the contributions of the players off the bench providing key plays throughout the game. East starter Aaron Mitchell turned an ankle early in the game and the other starter Tyler Beard got in foul trouble and fouled out of the game. Evan Wolfe played key minutes throughout the game. He provided a big offensive rebound for two points and pulled down the rebound at the end of the game.

“We’ve been talking about that all along even though we haven’t had games that have been extremely tight, of the importance of everybody’s contribution that is in the ball game and even the guys in practice. Tonight we got that. It is the contributions of everyone that makes a team. So I was really proud of all of our guys.”

Scoring by quarters
Bethel………16…29…45…60
Miami East ...26…36…46…62

Bethel (2 pt – 3pt – FT)
Sutton (5 – 3 – 7/8) – 26
Walters (4 – 0 – 2/2) – 10
McIntosh (1) – 2
Masin (4 – 0 – 1/2) - 9
Samuel (1) - 2
James (1 – 3 – 0/0) – 11
Total (16 – 6 – 10/12) - 60

Miami East
Hickman (5 – 3 – 3/4) – 22
Karadak (1) – 2
Wolfe (1) - 2
Hershberger J. (1 – 1) – 5
Carey (4 – 0 – 2/2) – 10
Beard (3 – 0 –1/2) – 7
Dunivan (5 – 0 – 4/6) – 14
Total (20 – 4 – 10/14) – 62

3 PT Goals
Bethel – 6 (Sutton 3, James 3)
Miami East – 4 (Hickman 3, Hershberger J.)

JV Game – Bethel 37 – Miami East 40