DEER PARK – Even though they were undefeated and playing on their home court, Deer Park High School students stormed the Wildcat floor Tuesday night Jan. 9 in celebration. The Wildcats knocked off previously undefeated Indian Hill 77-59 in convincing fashion to take over the top spot in the Cincinnati Hills League.
"They've been like a thorn in our side for a few years now," Deer Park coach Steve Gentry said. "It was good to get a win over them."
Colin Shaw gave Indian Hill a brief lead 3-0 on an opening trey, but Deer Park caught up in short order and sped past the Braves. Demani McEntire soared through the air early for a dunk, then again late. In between, the Wildcats pressed, pounded, pried and prevailed.
Scott Springer on Deer Park’s 77-59 win over Indian Hill Jan.9 The Enquirer/Scott Springer
"I've got a very versatile team," Gentry said. "We've got guys playing out of position. I usually have three point guards on the floor at all times with Mark Wise, my son Steve and Demani. Off the bench, Deshaun McEntire's been doing a great job for us. Dayshawn Blair comes in and gives us extra moves. Everybody's just buying into the system and things are working out for the best for us."
Sophomore Mark Wise led Deer Park with 23 points, with senior McEntire finishing with 15. Senior Jalen Rose added 12 and sophomore Steven Gentry Jr. had 11. Shaw led the Braves in the loss with 26 and junior Johnny Bultema had 14.
With 5:57 remaining, Bultema hit the second of back-to-back threes to pull Indian Hill within 10 at 56-46. A blitzing 16-2 run later it was 72-48 as the Wildcats don't allow much breathing room in their pressure. They were often relentless and a standing-room-only crowd fueled the fire.
"We try to get after people," Gentry said. "We keep some fresh legs in to keep things going and so far it's been working."
Added Indian Hill coach Tim Burch, "I think the high school atmosphere is fantastic. That's what you play for, that's what you work for, that atmosphere. They outplayed us. They played harder than we did. We'll meet them again at our place on Senior Night and see what happens."
Helping with the intimidating press for Deer Park is seven players over 6-foot-3. From last year's team Wise, Ibrahima Athie and Jalen Rose range from 6-3 to 6-5. The rest of the roster is new, including senior Demani McEntire who was at Oak Hill Academy last year and Gentry Jr. who played at Purcell Marian.
Gentry Sr. has come under some scrutiny over the new players but appears to have plenty of community support based on the packed gym.
"The Deer Park school has come to me with open arms," Gentry said. "I feel like my kids have been wronged in a lot of ways. There's a lot of people that's praying on our downfall, they want to see us lose, they want us to see us get caught in an infraction. OHSAA has cleared all of them to play. Now, all we're going to do is worry about playing basketball."
Deer Park went to 10-0 with the victory with a road game at Mariemont Friday. Indian Hill dropped to 9-1 with a home contest against Wyoming looming ahead.
"That's what high school's about," Burch said. "You've got two good teams going after each other. I know it didn't look like two good teams tonight, they looked like the better team. These (CHL) teams are doing a great job. (Wyoming coach Tim) Edmonds lost three players. That shows what coaching can do. I'm real proud of these guys with what they're doing with community teams."