MILLBURY, Ohio — On a mission to reach the regional stage of the postseason after two straight years of near misses, the Whitmer boys basketball team ratcheted up the defensive intensity and did enough offensively to earn a hard-fought 46-42 victory over Perrysburg in a Division I district final on Friday night at Lake High School.
In doing so, Whitmer claimed its first district title since the 2017-18 season when the Panthers knocked off Southview in an OT thriller in a Division I district final at Savage Arena and erased a bit of recent postseason disappointment after two straight losses just before regionals.
After two regular-season victories over Perrysburg this season, Whitmer and coach Anthony Stacey knew the third matchup between the Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division foe would be tightly contested with the stakes at their highest.
“The teams know each other so well,” Stacey said. “We've played each other three times now. The game at their place got away from them a little bit, but the other two games were really close. It's just what the district finals are all about. We didn't think it would be an easy game or a double-digit game. Our guys made some plays. We fought like crazy and it feels good. We've been two years in a row, and the feeling’s been the opposite. I'm just so proud of our guys and our staff, and it's really great for our community.”
Antione West led the way for the Panthers with 16 points, despite having at least one Perrysburg defender in his hip pocket most of the night.
Elijah McLeod hit three big 3-pointers on his way to nine points.
“That's always a big key for us,” West said of the team's defensive effort. “We're a great offensive team, but it's just how disciplined we are going to be and how much energy we are going to put into defensive rebounding and holding teams to one shot and making it easier for ourselves on offense by getting rebounds and pushing in transition.”
Matt Hubbard led Perrysburg with 11 points, and Austin Shultz and Joe Dynda added 10 points each.
The key sequence of the game came with Whitmer leading 43-40 after West made 1 of 2 free throws with 42.8 seconds left.
Perrysburg turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, and Whitmer took the ball out on its own side of midcourt. West broke free for an open-court dunk and a 45-40 lead with 30.3 seconds left but picked up a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
Yellow Jackets senior Gavin Fenneken calmly sank two free throws to cut the lead to 45-42. Then with eight seconds left, a Hubbard 3-point attempt rimmed in and out and Whitmer's Makhi Leach grabbed the rebound. He was fouled and made 1 of 2 from the line to effectively seal the victory.
“We've really been playing good defense in the tournament,” Stacey said. “We've guarded the basket really well and haven't given up a bunch of easy baskets. We were locked in from the beginning. Both teams were though. [Perrysburg coach] Dave Boyce does a great job and he has 600 wins for a reason.
“Those kids play well together and they are a great team. Fortunately for us tonight we came out on top.”
Whitmer struggled at times offensively as Perrysburg mixed up its defenses to try to limit West and Leach. But McLeod and Andre Young III hit some big shots at different times and the Panthers did just enough.
“They played box-and-1 and triangle-and-2, and we kind of expected that,” Stacey said. “The best way they come out of that is to hit shots and we did that early. Then we kind of went cold. I'm sure we are going to get that a little more. You have to be able to win the game in different ways, and tonight we were able to do that.”
Perrysburg was right in the game at the end but couldn’t get the key basket it needed to tie or take the lead.
“We did everything we needed to do to win and just a couple of things didn't go our way,” Boyce said. “I told them how proud I was of them and their effort. We played an unbelievable schedule this year against some of the best teams in the state and some of the best players. We got knocked down a few times, but every time we did, we came back. We took one of the best teams in the area right to the buzzer.”
After a loss to Northview two years ago and St. John’s Jesuit last year at this point of the tournament, Whitmer was able to break through and now advances to a regional semifinal against St. John's on Wednesday at Savage Arena.
“It's great for the school and for the program to come out here and prove ourselves,” West said. “We want to come out here every game and keep proving ourselves. It's the best time of the year really. This is what we work for all season, and it's a great feeling to get over that hump. We came here the last two years and came up short, but now it feels great.”
First Published March 9, 2024, 3:00 a.m.
