Defiance bounces Scott out of playoffs

Sandusky Perkins gets by Wauseon in OT

Shaquille Allen, who scored 11 points, drives against Defiance's Doug Herrett in a Divisoin II district semifinal at BGSU.

The Blade/Andy Morrison
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Shaquille Allen, who scored 11 points, drives against Defiance's Doug Herrett in a Divisoin II district semifinal at BGSU.

BOWLING GREEN -- Defiance won the battle of the Bulldogs Wednesday night at Bowling Green State University's Stroh Center.

Tory Gulliam and Anthony Kidston guided Defiance to a 73-53 victory over Scott in a Division II boys basketball district semifinal.

PHOTO GALLERY: Defiance vs. Scott

Gulliam, a 6-foot senior, poured in a game-high 20 points while making 8 of 10 shots from the field. Kidston, a 6-2 senior, pumped in 14 points -- all in the second half -- and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

In the second semifinal, Sandusky Perkins escaped with a 49-45 overtime victory over Wauseon.

PHOTO GALLERY: Wauseon vs. Sandusky Perkins

Deciding which of the Bulldogs teams would move on to the district final arguably occurred early in the contest when Defiance established momentum. A 10-0 spurt capped by a three-point play from Trey Gulliam gave Defiance a 17-7 lead midway through the first quarter.

Defiance, which went up by as many as 12 points in the period, ended the quarter owning a 23-15 advantage.

Defiance (22-1) owned the lead for the rest of the night.

"Against Scott's defense we wanted to attack, and we wanted to get to the basket," Defiance coach Kirk Lehman said. "Anytime you get off to a fast start in a tournament game is always a good thing."

Scott (13-9) did pull within two points of Defiance in the second quarter when Marcus Gilmer scored on a fast-break to make it 31-29 with 2:23 left in the first half.

Yet, Defiance didn't allow Scott to pull any closer as it closed out the half retaining a 35-31 lead.

"Defiance is a good team," Scott coach Chris Dames said. "They're a well-coached team. They played well and executed."

Scott's Dontonio Kynard scored a team-high 17 points, and Shaquille Allen added 11 in a losing effort in which Scott shot only 37 percent (21-of-57) for the game. After sinking 52 percent (12-of-23) of its shots in the first half, Scott made only 9-of-34 shot attempts (26.5 percent) after halftime.

Alex Woten of Wauseion, right, blocks a shot by Nic Williams (25) of Sandusky Perkins in a Division II district semifinal. The Indians finish the season 20-3.

Defiance knocked down 50 percent (27-of-54) of its shot attempts, many of which occurred as layups from driving to the basket or as a result of put-backs. Defiance outrebounded Scott, 42-28, including 13 offensive rebounds.

Dames said Defiance, particularly Tory Gulliam, caused them trouble with their penetration to the basket. He thought they perhaps placed too much emphasis on defending against the threat of Defiance's 3-point shooting.

"I think we were kind of scared of their three-point shooting," he said. "And I think they kind of caught us off guard with their quickness."

Defiance outscored Scott 18-11 in the third quarter to take a 53-42 lead into the final period. Kidston scored eight points during the third quarter for Defiance, including a pair of 3-pointers.

"We can open some things up with our outside shooting," Lehman said. "When we can drive to the basket it's a double-edged sword."

An extra four-minute period was needed in order to determine the winner of the Perkins-Wauseon matchup.

The Pirates (21-2), paced by Nic Williams' game-high 16 points, outscored the Indians 7-3 in overtime to come away with the win.

"We got stops when we needed to," Perkins coach Scott McVeigh said.

David Doster also finished with 13 points to help Perkins claim its first district semifinal win in team history. Michael Ebert, Perkins' 6-7 senior post, added nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Scott's Delaquon Norwood, bottom, fights for the ball with Defiance's Josh Scott. Scott finishs the season 13-9.

"Give Wauseon a lot of credit because they battled back," McVeigh said. "But our kids hung in there."

Wade Wooley led Wauseon with a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds. Collin Bzovi and Alex Woten chipped in 10 points apiece for the Indians (20-3).

Perkins went into halftime owning a 28-24 lead over Wauseon.

Doster and Williams combined for 17 first-half points for the Pirates, who owned the lead for most of the game until the Indians rallied late.

Wauseon's Tre Henricks swished a 3-pointer that gave the Indians a 42-20 lead late in the fourth quarter.

However, the Pirates tied the score moments later to send the game into overtime.

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com or 419-724-6302