Celina grabs early lead
and rolls to win
By MARC TOBIAS
mtobias@dailystandard.com
DEFIANCE — It was a workman like effort for Celina in
Western Buckeye League action on Friday night, as the Green
and White handled Defiance by a final score of 69-45.
| Celina Boys All-Time 1,000-point Scorers |
Name
Jay VanderHorst
Mike Reichert
Tim Homan |
Points
1,127
1,087
1,013 |
| Homan needs to average 24.7 points per game
during the regular season to move into second place all-time
at Celina. Homan is currently averaging 19.9 ppg. on the
season. |
Celina took control of the game early, and after a 20-7 first
quarter the the Mercer County Bulldogs were never threatened
again.
Last night will most likely be more remembered, though, for
a career milestone for Bulldog standout Tim Homan.
Homan entered the game only needing four points to become the
third Celina player in history to crack the magical 1,000-point
barrier, and it didn’t take him long to accomplish that
feat.
He started Celina’s scoring with a three-point bucket
and moments later he connected on another triple with 4:50 remaining
in the opening quarter for points 1,000 and 1,001.
“I’m real happy for him, we talked about in there
(locker room) that it takes more than one guy to score a 1,000
points, his teammates do a lot to get him open and get him the
ball,” said Celina coach Mike Kanney. “In the years
that he’s played for us he’s done a nice job and
I’m real happy for him.”
Homan was also quick to give credit to his teammates on his
milestone evening.
“Ever since my sophomore year and scoring around 300 points
I kind of thought it might be a possibility later on, and tonight
it finally happenend,” Homan said. “I have to credit
my teammates, they’re a big part of this, and it was a
fun night.”
The Celina fans were obviously aware of the evenings events,
and when the senior standout drained his second three-pointer
he was quickly given a standing ovation from the visiting faithful.
There was only a small fraction of the Celina crowd that was
slightly disappointed with how Homan scored his 1,000th point.
“Everybody (on the team) wanted me to do it on a dunk,
but that obviously wasn’t planned out,” Homan said
with a laugh.
As for the game, Defiance pulled to within 20-10 on a L.J. Helton
three-pointer to start the second quarter, but Celina answered
with a quick 9-0 run to essentially put the game away.
Celina led 36-15 at the break behind the strength of 50-percent
shooting, and Homan led all scorers at that time with 13 points
to go with seven rebounds.
Helton led the home team with 10 at the half, and was the only
Defiance player to score in a 16-8 second quarter in favor of
Celina.
In fact, the last bucket by any Defiance player besides Helton
was a Julian Bostleman inside score with 5:11 to play in the
first quarter. Celina held Defiance to 6-of-24 shooting in the
first half.
“They played well defensively and we didn’t do a
good job screening,” said first-year Defiance coach Kirk
Lehman. “Other than L.J., we didn’t do a lot offensively.”
Helton led all scorers with 22 points, and Graham Wagner was
the only other Defiance player to reach double figures with
11 points.
Celina continued to shoot the ball effectively in the second
half, as it outscored Defiance 33-30 in the final 16 minutes.
The Green and White finished by making 56 percent (28-of-50)
of their shots, including 9-of-17 from behind the three-point
arc.
“It was nice to see guys step up and make shots. Early
on against their zone we were patient and we got the ball inside
and scored then we were able to hit some perimeter shots,”
Kanney said. “I thought that was the difference in the
game, they had to go man and we were able to get into our sets.”
Homan finished with 17 points and eight rebounds for Celina,
while Adam Tindall added 13 points and five rebounds. Scott
Boley was the third Bulldog to reach double figures scoring
with 10 to go with six rebounds.
Celina returns to action tonight when it hosts Lima Central
Catholic.
|
