RITTMAN – A highly successful cake auction benefitting the school's athletic department was no doubt torture for the diabetics in the gym. But for the Rittman Indians, the sweetest — and healthiest — treat Saturday night was a 43-32 boys basketball victory over Wayne County Athletic League frontrunner Waynedale.
Holding the Golden Bears to a season-low points total in a wild and woolly affair, the Indians avenged their earlier 71-66 loss to Waynedale and postponed the notion that the Bears (9-4, 7-1 WCAL) were riding a wave of momentum toward a league championship.
"We had some unfinished business to take care of," said Rittman senior guard William Swartz, who had a team-high 17 points, one better than fellow Tribesman Kaleb Bauman. When the going got tough, it was up to the 6-foot-2 Swartz to do most of the ball handling and make some key free throws in the final two and a half minutes.
"I like to think I thrive under pressure," Swartz said. "I like having the ball in my hand."
Credit Rittman’s energetic defensive effort. Rittman's biggest lead of the first half was 15, and the Indians increased the gap to 19 at 31-12 with 3:03 to go in the third period when Swartz drove through traffic in the paint for a close-in deuce.
Waynedale quickly narrowed the gap to seven at 33-26 with 5:52 on the third-period clock. It was the hot outside shooting of Manny Camacho that got the Bears back in the game with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers. With his patented quick release, Camacho drained two rainbows from the right corner and then a bomb from the top of the key.
Rittman head coach Chad Bever called a timeout in what proved to be a successful attempt to subdue Wayndale’s momentum. Bauman scored a close-in hoop after a nice lob pass from 5-8 Tony Ramsier to make it 35-26, even though the steady Bauman couldn’t cash in on the and-one opportunity at the line when he was fouled.
With the support of a loud student cheering section on a night when the house was packed, Rittman (13-2, 7-2 WCAL) went without a field goal in the final four minutes, maintaining the lead by sinking 8 of 12 from the free-throw line in the final 3:58.
Waynedale got it down to seven when Derek Reber swished a pair of charity tosses at the 2:33 mark. That, however, would be the last time the Bears would score, as Rittman took the air out of the ball and forced the visitors to foul.
Waynedale ended up shooting just 28 percent from the floor (9 of 32). Rittman, which played without the services of Swartz in the first Waynedale game because of an emergency appendectomy, was 14 of 34 (41 percent) for the night, taking just four shots in the hectic final eight minutes. The Bears were only 9 of 17 from the free-throw line and the Indians were an aloof 13 of 23 at the free-throw line.
Justin Flaisman, Rittman’s 6-10 senior center, totaled eight rebounds, as did Bauman. Ryan Weaver was the Bears’ leading boardman with seven. Waynedale was guilty of 17 turnovers in the game, while Rittman gave the rock away 10 times.
Camacho was the Bears’ lone double-figure man with 11 points. In the earlier meeting between the Indians and Bears, Camacho scorched the twine for 26 points. In that game, Rittman’s Connor Stuart had 26 points, compared to his three points this time around.
"The thing we talked about before the game was the importance of getting a hand up on their shooters quickly and getting out quickly on screens," Bever, in his fifth season, said. "I thought we did a really good job of that the first half. The guys had a hand up and every single time (Waynedale) caught the ball in the air, we moved on the fly to the pass. Our help side was good. I was just incredibly proud of their effort."
Waynedale scored only about half what the team has averaged this season.
"To their credit, they made us uncomfortable and I don’t think we were patient in the first half," said Bears second-year mentor Kevin Stacey. "We just could never get it going and ended up shooting 22 percent for the game. It just wasn’t a good recipe for us.
"They did a good job of handling the pressure," Stacey added. "It was just one of those nights. If you hold that team to 43 points, you give yourself a chance to win most times. But again, they played really well against us defensively. We were trying to find a spark and some of our better shooters struggled tonight. That happens in basketball."
Rittman, whose only other league loss this season was two weeks ago to Smithville, hopes to keep its momentum going Tuesday when it hosts Norton. Waynedale entertains Hillsdale next Friday.