State ranked Pirates down Stebbins for record tying start - Best start since '39-'40 season

John Cummings, Sports Editor, Miamisburg-West Carrollton News

West Carrollton’s road win at Stebbins last week was special for a plethora of reasons. First, it kept the Pirates undefeated on the season and in first place in the Mid Miami League South Division. Second, it was their first win as a state ranked team and it tied school history. The 60-53 win over the Indians pushed the Pirates to 12-0 and tied the 65-year old record for best start in school history. The 1939-40 team started the season 12-0 before dropping number 13. The 1951-52 squad started the season 10-0, but could not match the start of the 39-40 squad when they dropped their 11th contest of the season.“We are happy as heck to be 12-0,” West Carrollton coach Dan Gerhard said. “But, we are not satisfied.“We want to win the South title and do some pretty special things. We’ve got that opportunity.”The Pirates also got a stern test from an athletic Stebbins squad.“We are concerned with every game we play,” Gerhard said. “We knew they were pretty athletic, and we were concerned with that.“We were concerned we were on the road. We didn’t think that it would be easy, and it wasn’t.”The contest was back-and-forth until West Carrollton went on a 10-2 run to start the fourth quarter and turned a 35-35 contest into a 45-37 cushion.“We are happy with the win,” Gerhard said. “It is good to have fun, but when you are ready to compete, you have to be serious about it.“Defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job. We held our composure pretty well, we just did not play smart the whole time.”The game began with seven lead changes and one tie in the first eight minutes.A pair of three pointers by Brian Corn answered early baskets by Stebbins for a 6-4 lead with 4:21 left in the first quarter, but the Indians came back to tie the game at 6-6. Drew Frahm connected on a mid-range jumper, but Stebbins scored the next five points for a 11-8 lead before Chad Muntzinger and Danny Manning hauled in an outlet pass off a steal from Frahm for a 12-11 lead with :48 left in the quarter. The Pirates pushed the lead to 13-11 heading into the second eight minutes when Frahm converted one of three free throws after being fouled on a half-court shot at the buzzer.Chris Dunn pushed the lead to four, 15-11, to open the second quarter, before three points by Muntzinger and a basket by Matt Engle gave the Pirates a 20-12 lead with 3:45 left in the half. The Indians came back to cut the lead to 22-21 with 1:06 left in the half, but Frahm buried a three from the top of the key with :28 left for a 25-21 halftime cushion.“We want everyone’s best shot,” Gerhard said. “We are still trying to get better each day.“I don’t think we have played our best basketball yet. If they get to playing as good as they could, it would be neat.”Frahm scored the first eight points of the second half for the Pirates before Manning added a basket for a 35-29 lead with 3:22 left in the third quarter. Stebbins, however, came back to tie the game at 35-35 with 1:23 left before the Pirates went on their run.Dunn closed the third quarter with a basket before Manning hit a short jumper to open the fourth quarter and Muntzinger got loose underneath for a 42-35 lead before the Indians could find the net again. Manning hit another short shot and the second of two free throws as the Pirates pushed to the lead to 45-37 with 5:20 left in the game. However, a turnover led to a Stebbins three before Manning picked up his fifth and the momentum was starting to change with the Pirates clinging to a 45-40 lead.“We had a chance we could’ve gone up 10 and instead it went to five, and we lost our point guard,” Gerhard said. “It got down to two possessions and I was concerned.“The main way to keep them from being able to set up a press late in the game is to keep them from scoring. There are few people who jump into presses on misses.”The Pirates, however, went on a quick run of their own when Muntzinger scored underneath and Frahm stuck a rebound off the glass and in for a 49-40 lead with 3:14 left in the contest.The Indians never got closer than five the rest of the way as Muntzinger scored their lone field goal in the remaining two minutes of the game and the Pirates hit nine of 11 free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.Frahm led the Pirates with 19 points while Muntzinger finished with 17 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter before fouling out.In addition to the foul trouble, the Pirates were also down a player and Engle played sparingly while nursing an ankle injury back to health.“We are nine deep this year,” Gerhard said. “But, when you have two foul out, and one hurt and one inactive, you look down the bench and all of a sudden you only have one or two to chose from.”However, the role players did their job against the Indians.Dunn gave the Pirates some valuable minutes while Justin Winiecki handled the ball well after Manning fouled out.“I thought that Chris Dunn played well,” Gerhard said. “Justin has done a nice job for us this year.“He would get a sixth man award because he comes out and gives us a good effort defensively, he shoots the ball well and is a good free throw shooter. He has done a nice job for us.”The Pirates face another tough road test Friday when they travel to Springboro.“It should be an exciting night,” Gerhard said. “It should be a sellout.“If I was just going to watch a game on Friday, this would be the one I would pick to watch.“It should be high on everyone’s list.”

- posted by Mikey @ 2:02 PM