By BILL LIERMANN

Sports Writer

CINCINNATI — For the second consecutive year, Thurgood Marshall has ended Wilmington High School’s basketball tournament run.

This time, the Cougars (20-4) defeated the Hurricane (21-3) in the Division II regional semifinal, 67-60, Thursday night at the Cintas Center.

Despite trailing by nine points after three quarters, 48-39, the Hurricane put forth a spirited comeback effort to knot the score at 54-54 with just over four minutes remaining in regulation. Nyles Williams pulled WHS within a single point, 61-60, as he followed up his own miss of a three-pointer with 21.7 seconds remaining, but those would be the final Hurricane points scored in the ballgame.

The Cougars’ Juwan Staten, who scored 16 points in the contest, converted crucial free throws down the stretch, hitting both ends of one and bonus situations twice, enabling Marshall to advance to the regional championship game Saturday versus Bishop Watterson.

The Eagles knocked off No.1-ranked Graham on a last-second three pointer in the opening ballgame, 45-44.

In his post-game comments, Wilmington head coach Mike Noszka pointed to the one key stat which proved to be the difference between his team and Thurgood — their ability to hit the three pointer while his Hurricane squad struggled from long-distance.

“They made it extremely difficult for us to defend them. Give them (Thurgood) credit; they hit their shots … especially the threes. They were 7 for 17, but we did not hit our’s (WHS was four of 18). When a team hits over 40 percent beyond the arc, it makes it tough to stay with them,” he pointed out.

Noszka was still proud of his squad, despite the season ending sooner than many had thought it would.

“I’m so proud of these kids, you can’t fault them and they made a great comeback. Even though we trailed by nine, we felt we could tie it up and eventually win this game. We just could never get the lead after their run to start the second half. I think mentally, that was the toughest part, we never could regain the lead,” he said.

Marshall broke out of the gate with a flurry to start the second half, breaking open a close game. WHS held a 10-9 lead after one period, but fell behind by one at the intermission, 25-24.

DeAngelo Gates, who topped the Cougars in scoring with 18 on the night, keyed the third quarter run, scoring 10 points as the Cougars outscored WHS 23-15 during the period.

“That third quarter just killed us,” Noszka said. “We contested their shots, but everything they shot went in. Our defense has been solid all year, but nothing we did in the third quarter seemed to work.”

Senior Craig Osterbrock, who finished with 16 points, helped ignite the Hurricane fourth quarter rally with a trey and an old-fashioned three point play as the ‘Cane tied the game at 54-54 with 4:10 remaining. Quinten Rollins also had 16 points for the ‘Cane ( eight in each half) and his field goal with 1:19 to play in the contest pulled WHS within one point, 59-58.

Jordan Berlin also reached double digits for the ‘Cane with 14, including six points in both the second and third quarters. Malcolm Heard scored seven for the Hurricane, all of which came in the fourth period. WHS claimed the final quarter by a 21-19 margin.

In his final summation, Noszka felt his team fell short of its ultimate goal, playing for and winning a state championship, something they had really hoped they would be doing next weekend in Columbus.

“We came up short. Our team goal was to be a state champion, but it wasn’t meant to be,” he said. “They (Marshall) are good enough to win the state, in my opinion.”

He concluded his remarks with some collective thoughts and individual comments about his three departing seniors, who dressed for their final contest in the orange and black of WHS.

“Craig (Osterbrock) is just a special kid, who played steady all year for us and provided great leadership on the floor. Kirby (Seeger) had great intensity and toughness down the stretch. He really should not have been out on the floor at times (alluding to an ankle injury), and Michael (Graham) is a very unselfish kid who provided great spirit and leadership for us all year long.”

Noszka also complimented the ardent Hurricane fans who have followed the team all season, as was evidenced by the sea of orange and black throughout the Cintas Center Thursday night.

“The community has been great and their support has been tremendous. We appreciate their spirit and the following each game has meant a lot to us. We wanted to give something back to them,” he noted.

SUMMARY

WHS 10 14 15 21 — 60

TMHS 9 16 23 19 — 67

(60) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Rollins 6-0-4-16, Arehart 2-0-0-4, Osterbrock 6-3-1-16, Berlin 5-1-3-14, Heard 3-0-1-7, Williams 1-0-1-3, Seeger 0-0-0-0, Blakeman 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 23-4-10-60.

(67) MARSHALL (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Staten 4-0-6-14, Robinson 5-3-0-13, Gates 8-2-0-18, Gainey 1-0-0-2, Quinn 2-0-0-4, White 2-3-0-6, Banks 3-0-4-10, Watson 0-0-0-0, Scott 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 25-7-10-67

FIELD GOALS: WHS 23-50 (Osterbrock 6-9, Rollins 6-12, Heard 3-5, Arehart 2-3); MHS 25-52 (Gates 8-11).

3 PT FIELD GOALS: WHS 4-18 (Osterbrock 3-4); MHS 7-17 (Robinson 3-6 Gates 2-4, White 2-3).

FREE THROWS: WHS 10-12 (Rollins 4-4, Berlin 3-4); MHS 10-15 (Staten 6-7).

REBOUNDS: WHS-30 (Rollins 7, Williams 7, Heard 6, Berlin 3); MHS-27 (Gainey 6, Quinn 5, Robinson 5).

ASSISTS: WHS-11 (Williams 5, Berlin 3, Rollins 2); MHS-9 (Staten 4).

STEALS: WHS-1 (Heard 1); MHS-5 (Robinson 3).

BLOCKED SHOTS: WHS-4 (Heard 2, Arehart 1, Osterbrock 1); MHS-2.

TURNOVERS: WHS-9; MHS-9.

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