Friday, March 16, 2001
Western Hills breezes past Butler
By Carey Hoffman
Enquirer contributor
West Hi's Darryl Peterson is undercut on a drive.
(Jeff Swinger photo)
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Western Hills' first trip to the regional tournament was played with the noise level of the first scrimmage of the season.
That's how dominant the Mustangs were all night long, routing Vandalia Butler 55-34 in a Division I regional semifinal Thursday night at Xavier's Cintas Center.
Western Hills (21-4) advances to meet neighborhood rival Elder for a trip to the state Final Four at the Cintas Center at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Butler ends its year 20-5.
“We were just relaxed and wanted to play,” said West Hi coach Lannis Timmons. “I've told our guys I don't want to hear any Elder speech, to just play the game. They're in our way now, just like we're in their way.”
West Hi established its physical dominance from the outset Thursday, setting up a 28-13 halftime lead.
Contesting every Butler pass and going to the boards with ferocity, the Mustangs had Butler shell-shocked by the time four minutes had gone off the clock, leading 12-2. Three straight steals out of pressure produced baskets late in the quarter, boosting the lead to 20-3.
“It was important we got a good start,” said West Hi center Danny Horace, who had game highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds. “We didn't want them in the game. We didn't want it close.”
“It was very simple,” Butler coach Ray Zawadzki said. “They shot 9 of 12 (at the start), we shot 2 of 13. We felt we wanted a good start. As a coaching staff, we felt that was essential.”
West Hi point guard Malcolm Andrews hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter to also hurt Butler's strategy of playing zone. Andrews finished with nine points and five assists.
Western Hills shot 44 percent in the game, compared to just 32.6 percent for Butler.
Darryl Peterson, who like Andrews and Horace is a Division I college signee, added eight points. Peterson is going to Akron, Andrews to Wright State and Horace to Miami University.
The regional finals makes a strong statement about the improvement of the three, who have had Western Hills high in the city rankings since their sophomore seasons.
“It's unbelievable how much better those kids are now,” Timmons said. “Like Danny, he makes better decisions now, he shoots it much better. He's just determined. There wasn't much celebrating here (tonight), because we've got unfinished business.”
Elder beat Western Hills during a regular season matchup in January.
WESTERN HILLS (55) - Andrews 3 1 9,, Hadnot 2 1 5, Peterson 4 0 8, Banks 1 2 4, Horace 8 2 18, Taylor 2 0 4, Horton 0 1 1, Smith 2 0 5, Hix 0 1 1. Totals: 22-50 8-15 55.
VANDALIA BUTLER (34) - Goldsberry 5 2 12, Keegan 2 0 4, Hertlein 3 3 10, Schnabel 1 0 2, Manning 1 0 2, Higgins 2 0 4. Totals: 14-43 5-7 34.
Western Hills ....... 20 8 14 13 - 55
Vandalia Butler ....... 6 7 13 8 - 34
3-pointers: WH (3-10) - Andrews 2, Smith; VB (1-9) - Hertlein. Records: WH 21-4, VB 20-5.
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Western Hills breezes past Butler
