Free throw line kind to Margaretta in regional win

ELIDA — They say practice makes perfect. For the Margaretta boys basketball team, it was dang-near perfect from the free throw line Wednesday. That helped the No. 3-ranked Polar Bears defeated No. 4 Genoa 70-58 in a Division V regional semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse. Margaretta finished 24 of 27 (88 percent) from the foul line. The Polar Bears are a good shooting team, making around 74 percent as a group this year, but kicked it up a notch against the Comets. "We take a ton of pride in our free throws," junior Tyson Bailey said. "We work at it every single day. We practiced it before we came here today and it paid off." Margaretta improved to 23-3 and will face No. 8 Columbus Academy (22-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday in a regional final at Ohio Dominican University. "Coaching is really easy," Polar Bears coach Steve Keller said. "If you have good players, you're good. I have really good players. We're excited to be in a regional final. It's not our end goal. We know every step we have to be 1-0. We know it's a rematch and they're extremely good." Margaretta made all four free throws it attempted through three quarters. The Polar Bears picked up the aggressiveness in the fourth quarter and got to the line 23 times, making 20 attempts. "Those were huge," Keller said. "I will tell you that we have some quality young men who enjoy this environment. They stepped up and shot it well and shot it with confidence. I'm very pleased." Bailey was massive in helping Margaretta get the lead. He had the Polar Bears' first six points, but was hot out of the gate in the third quarter. Bailey scored on a putback before hitting a 15-foot baseline jumper. He scored again then knocked down a banked-in shot from the elbow. That put Margaretta up 36-26 with 5:16 to go in the third quarter. He had to battle 6-foot-8 Walter Plantz on both ends the entire night. "Tyson was an absolute man," Keller said. "Tyson got after it. Tyson finished. Tyson battled on the defensive end and made it difficult for (Plantz). Tyson is a very, very good basketball player. People don't give him the credit because he's got highlight reel Julian (Washington) and others on his team. "I'll tell you this. Tyson Bailey is extremely important to our basketball team and he played extremely well tonight." The Polar Bears were able to put away Genoa (25-1) from there. Kale Bailey scored to keep the lead at 10 points and an offensive rebound and bucket from Judah Keller gave Margaretta a 42-32 lead after three quarters. "I know the third quarter was key where we got some stops and got out in transition," coach Keller said. "That really, really kind of helped us get a lead." Washington opened the fourth quarter with a three-point play before two free throws by Kale Bailey increased the margin to 47-32. The advantage reached 16 points briefly after a thunderous dunk from Washington and two free throws. Genoa made some 3s down the stretch, but the Polar Bears' efficiency from the foul line kept the Comets at bay. "They're obviously a very, very good basketball team," Genoa coach Jon Sandwisch said. "We tried to have some of their other guys step up and they did. That's a credit to them and a lot of credit to how well they're coached. They did a really good job tonight." The Comets were hot out of the gate, going up 8-2 on a score from Ryan Routson. Genoa pushed the lead as big as 15-8 when Plantz made two free throws. Jake Bouy knocked down a jumper to get Margaretta within 15-10 after one quarter. That jumpstarted what became a 15-0 run for the Polar Bears. Kale Bailey scored to open the second quarter before Washington's 3 tied the game. Tyson Bailey, Kale Bailey and Washington scored and Keller made two free throws for a 23-15 lead. Genoa answered with the next seven points, but Washington connected on two free throws for a 28-24 advantage at halftime. "I thought defensively we settled in with some adjustments we had to make," coach Keller said. "Early, they took it at us and then we were able to make adjustments. We knew that might be the case. Our guys did an excellent job of executing." Tyson Bailey finished with a career-high 22 points for the Polar Bears. "He's really, really athletic and good," Sandwisch said. "He does a lot of stuff defensively and rebounding, too. When you play a team like that, you have to pick and choose what is going to beat you. We tried to put the responsibility on their role players and he stepped up and responded." Plantz finished with 14 points. He had six points in the first quarter, but none in the second quarter. He added just two points in the third quarter. "We went to something that we actually put in Saturday," said coach Keller of defending the Div. II Ashland signee. "We wanted to front him and have back side help. We had to live if they made some shots from the perimeter. Fortunately, we rebounded enough." Washington tallied 18 points and nine rebounds while Kale Bailey scored 15 points. The Polar Bears will play in their second regional final in three seasons when they take on Columbus Academy, which eliminated Margaretta last year in a regional semifinal at Mansfield Senior High School. "I was proud of all of our guys for grinding," coach Keller said. "We told them we weren't going to be perfect. We were going to miss shots, turn it over and miss defensive assignments. "We needed to keep battling and grinding and having an equilibrium about us." GENOA (25-1) Jacob Woollard 2 1-2 7, Walter Plantz 4 6-6 14, Ryan Routson 5 1-2 14, Ty Asman 2 7-8 12, Myles Mollenhauer 1 0-0 2, Jax Magnone 3 3-4 9. TOTALS 17 18-22 58 MARGARETTA (23-3) Kale Bailey 4 6-6 15, Keiygan Morris 0 6-6 6, Julian Washington 6 5-5 18, Judah Keller 1 4-6 6, Tyson Bailey 10 2-2 22, Jake Bouy 1 1-2 3. TOTALS 22 24-27 70 Genoa 15 9 8 26 — 58 Margaretta 10 18 14 28 — 70 Three-point goals: Genoa 6 (Routson 3, Woollard 2, Asman); Margaretta 2 (K. Bailey, Washington)