NANKIN – All things considered, Friday might just have been the most memorable night in the history of Mapleton boys basketball.
Hosting Youngstown Valley Christian in a Division III sectional final, the Mounties withstood the toughest pressure defense they have seen all season in a scintillating, hold-them-off, 54-50 victory.
Mapleton senior Kyle Sloter became the second 1,000-point scorer in program history and the Mounties watched a 16-point halftime lead shrivel to three before they could finally celebrate in front of what surely was one of the gym’s most uproarious crowds ever.
Kyle Sloter’s 1,000 points triggered a celebration on the court at Mapleton (Doug Haidet)
It was the first sectional crown in 17 years for Mapleton (16-7), which already had secured its most wins in a season since 1982 and finished with an 11-2 record at home.
“We talked about giving the community something to come out and support,” fifth-year Mounties coach Nick Hickey said. “The boys want to represent their community the best way they can, and they do that.
“Tonight was just a great opportunity for folks that don’t come to games a lot to come out and see these boys and how they represent Mapleton.”
The 17th-seeded Mounties will advance to take on fourth-seeded Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (19-5) at 7 p.m. Monday at Salem High School. Valley Christian (15-9), the 18th seed, closed one of its best seasons in recent memory.
The Eagles had won eight of their last nine and were the only Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference team to advance out of the first round of the tournament.
Led by 16th-year head coach Dolph Carroll, who played collegiately at the University of Kansas and was drafted in 1980 by the Phoenix Suns, Valley Christian had won 10 straight when scoring at least 50 points.
But on Friday, they were just 6-of-32 from the field in the first half.
“Tonight we just couldn’t throw it in the ocean (in the first half), pure and simple,” Carroll said. “We had great looks all night long. We just couldn’t knock anything down.
“That’s part of coming on the road, being a little inexperienced.”
The Eagles’ poor-shooting first half was on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Mounties.
Sloter (team-high 16 points) kick-started the game’s scoring by netting his 1,000th point on an 8-foot contested jumper along the left baseline with 7:12 showing on the clock.
Mapleton’s Kyle Sloter scored his 1,000th point and presented the game ball to his mom. (Doug Haidet)
Play was stopped while the senior was given the game ball. With fans holding up 1,000-point signs and giving him a standing ovation, he handed the ball to his mother, Lori Sloter, in the stands.
“There was a bunch of pressure, but I knew my teammates would get me the ball and I would get it done,” said Sloter, the MHS record-holder in career steals whose 1,014 points trail only Gage Barone (1,354) at Mapleton.
“The bucket he got it on was a tough bucket,” Hickey said. “… Heck of a way to get it.”
The rest of the game was absolutely all business. The fans had dueling chants back and forth nearly the entire night, with the Eagle supporters standing from start to finish after driving a little under two hours from Youngstown.
Instantly showing its speed and on-the-ball, pestering defense, Valley Christian was whistled for its first foul just 12 seconds into the game.
The Eagles went ahead 8-7 with 5:10 left in the first when Jaylen Robinson scored the first of his 11 points.
But Mapleton took the lead right back when Scotty Hickey (13 points) – whose 54 3-pointers are the most in a single season in MHS history – buried his only trey of the night.
From there, the Mounties piled up points as a unit while Valley Christian scuffled despite pulling down plenty of offensive rebounds.
In about a one-minute span of the second quarter, Mapleton stretched its lead from 17-13 to 26-13 on successive 3-pointers from seniors Sloter, Cole Vermilya (10 points) and Lane Dreibelbis (10 points).
Sloter assisted on the latter two buckets and the Mounties sprinted into halftime on a 27-10 run, putting them comfortably ahead, 34-18.
“We settled down a little bit, realized we were going to get pressure and then just embraced the environment,” said Scotty Hickey, a junior guard who now has 962 career points.
“We knew there were going to be traps on Kyle and Scotty, so we knew we were going to get open looks for other guys,” coach Hickey added. “We just told them, ‘Hey, be confident. Everybody here’s got to be a basketball player; when you get it and you’re open, shoot it.’ ”
Vermilya and junior post Donavon Mills scrapped enough inside to help keep the Eagles settling for 3-point tries for much of the first half, but Valley Christian wasn’t going away.
Ra’Shaun Bell, a first-team All-EOAC guard averaging 17.3 points per game, exploded for 14 points in the third quarter alone. The senior ripped four 3-pointers in a span of a little more than two minutes, then dropped in a layup off a steal with 1:35 to play in the third.
“Ra’Shaun caught fire and got it going,” Carroll said of his star guard, who finished with a game-high 22 points.
At that point, the Eagles were within 41-37, the visiting stands were at a fever pitch and Hickey had missed a good chunk of the quarter while dealing with cramps in his leg.
“I was proud of them, they fought like crazy,” Carroll said. “They could have quit and folded and they didn’t. We played like we’re capable of playing in the second half.”
But just when it seemed the momentum was tilting, Mapleton pushed back to close the third period on a 6-2 mini-run, capped by a buzzer-beating putback jumper from Dreibelbis.
That inflated the lead back to 47-39 and the Mounties – who also had to send Sloter to the bench with cramps in the fourth – were able to withstand the VCHS pressure down the stretch.
At one point in the fourth, Mapleton held a 52-46 lead and passed the ball out of non-stop defensive traps for over 70 seconds.
The Mounties didn’t score on the possession, but the Eagles went more than two-and-a-half minutes without scoring themselves, with part of that time a frenetic sequence in which the teams traded three turnovers.
Valley Christian could have pulled within 52-49 with 15 seconds left, but it couldn’t convert on an and-1 free throw, and Hickey and Sloter both hit free throws after that to lock down the win.
“I tell our guys, it means something to beat us,” Carroll said. “We have a little history, we have a little tradition and people know we’re pretty good, so everybody throws their best game at you. You’ve got to expect it.
“It really was fun. I wish we’d have played better, but I’m not disappointed.”
Mapleton improved to 16-1 when scoring at least 51 points and enjoyed its final home game of the season in style. The student section stormed center-court after the final buzzer and plenty of MHS fans hung around long after to watch the team cut down its sectional nets.
Mapleton fans storm the floor after the Mounties wrap up a sectional championship. (Doug Haidet)
It was just the third tournament win for Mapleton in the last 13 seasons.
“This group, especially the seniors, have been talking about being able to cut a net down,” coach Hickey said. “For as hard as they work, I was really proud of them. It feels pretty good.”
Sloter said it was the best, loudest home crowd he’s seen at MHS.
“It’s very special,” he said. “This doesn’t happen at Mapleton very often. … This is my favorite, most memorable game by far.”
The Mounties now face a Cardinal Mooney team that coach Hickey said was very good when they played during a camp last summer at the University of Mount Union.
The Cardinals are 17-2 since starting the season 2-3 and were a 75-45 winner over Valley Christian on Dec. 30.
They beat Brookfield by a 66-23 score on Friday night.
Scotty Hickey said his team looks forward to the challenge.
“As a team we’re always talking about changing the culture here at Mapleton and turning it into a basketball school hopefully,” he said. “We’re taking a step in the right direction.”
