BIG SECOND HALF … David Bowman pulls down a rebound in the second half for the Locos. Bowman had two key offensive rebound baskets in the third quarter to spur the Montpelier rally. (PHOTO BY LINDSAY PHILLIPS, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
NAPOLEON – The Division IV sectional semifinal at the Grand Canyon on February 22nd was the rubber match between BBC rivals Hilltop and Montpelier.
The teams split their regular season meetings with the Locos winning on November 26th (63-48) and Hilltop winning the league matchup on January 28th (59-55).
A strong first half gave the Cadets the lead at halftime before Montpelier rallied in the second half by dominating the boards to earn a 48-41 victory.
The opening quarter was a back-and forth-battle with Hilltop grabbing a 7-4 edge after a triple by Carson Jennings and a bucket from Aidan Funkhouser.
Neither team was able to pull away in the early stages of the second quarter as David Bowman turned in a three-point play for the Locos followed by offensive rebound stick back by Chavez Martin to give the Locos a 13-11 lead.
Ian Hoffman quickly answered for Hilltop with a 3-pointer to retake the lead but after an offensive rebound basket by Jamison Grime and a 2/2 trip to the charity stripe for Garrett Walz, the Montpelier lead was 17-14.
The Cadets though would engineer a 9-0 run to end the half that also resulted in their largest lead of the night.
Matthew Wyse started it off for Hilltop by going 3/4 at the foul line, Funkhouser hit a runner in the lane, Raace Haynes converted a steal into a layup, and Hoffman hit two free throws to push the Hilltop lead to 23-17 at the break.
The Locos began to assert themselves on the boards in the third quarter with Bowman converting a three-point play as he scored and was fouled on a third scoring chance.
The Cadets responded with buckets by Carson Jennings, Wyse, and Hoffman to regain their six-point lead at 29-23.
It was then Montpelier’s turn for a scoring run with Walz scoring five straight points followed by another third chance field goal by Bowman to end the quarter and give Montpelier a 30-29 lead.
Montpelier owned an 8-4 advantage on the boards in the third stanza, including six on the offensive glass.
The Montpelier run continued in the final frame as Walz hit two more foul shots and Grime went 1/2 to extend the lead to 33-29.
A jumper in the lane by Jennings for Hilltop stopped the Locos surge at 10-0, but Walz drilled a triple and Grime scored along the left baseline to make it a 38-31 game with 5:16 left.
Following a Hilltop timeout, Wyse would knock down a much needed 3-pointer from the corner for the Cadets to trim the deficit to 38-34.
Hilltop was then forced out of the 2-3 zone defense that they had employed for most of the night and began trapping and then had to begin fouling.
The Locos were up to the task as they would go 11/15 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
Montpelier finished the night 15/38 (39%) from the floor, 16/23 (69%) at the free throw line, and outrebounded Hilltop 30-17.
Walz paced three Locos in double figures with 15 (11 in the 2nd half), Bowman had 12, and Grant Girrell added 11.
Hilltop (3-19) connected on 13/39 (33%) shots from the field with three triples and was 12/17 (70%) at the foul line. Wyse led the scoring with 12 points while Jennings and Hoffman each had nine.
No. 14 seed Montpelier will now face the No. 1 seed and top ranked team in the state, the Antwerp Archers in the sectional finals on Friday at 5:30pm back in Napoleon.
M’PELIER 8 9 13 18 – 48
HILLTOP 9 14 6 12 – 41
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com