Deer Park punches 1st ticket to state basketball tournament in school history

KETTERING – With eagerness and excitement fans from Deer Park and Madeira poured into Kettering Fairmont's Trent Arena Saturday night for a Division III regional championship featuring two teams from the Cincinnati Hills League for a chance to book a trip to Columbus in next week's state semifinals. 

For Madeira, its blue and yellow faithful were hoping for its first state tournament berth since 1999, but across the court, the folks in black and red were waiting for their Wildcats to clinch the first state semifinal berth in school history, and when the night was over it was Deer Park (27-0) cutting down the regional championship net after a 65-55 win, while its fans started raucously making travel plans. 

While the score was within reach throughout the first half, Madeira (19-8) didn't look as comfortable as Deer Park. The Mustangs struggled to break the Wildcats' full-court pressure which led to easy transition buckets and Deer Park's speed disrupted Madeira's passing lanes. 

In the second half, behind a 27-15 halftime lead, Deer Park settled in even more like a runaway train that only got faster as the game got longer. 

Like I told my guys I've been here three times as a head coach and three times I have failed," said Deer Park coach Steve Gentry. "My players said, 'Not this year coach, we gonna get you to the Final Four and that's what they did." 

Part of what makes Deer Park so difficult to deal with is the Wildcats have a handful of players who can take over a game in a number of ways. 

Saturday night, Deer Park senior Damani Mcentire, who leads the Wildcats in scoring, only had eight points, but he disrupted the Mustangs' offense all night, while senior Jalen Rose took care of Deer Park's scoring with a game-high 20 points. 

"Give Deer Park the credit," said Madeira coach Rick Rockwell. "Their pressure ... Damani Mcentire, he's a one-man pressing machine. The difference in the game was his ability to make plays." 

Gentry said that's part of what makes his team so special. "Any given night somebody can step up," he said. 

"With everything that's going on at Deer Park, we're gonna get everybody's best shot. These guy shave strived through adversity with the people talking, OHSAA coming down doing investigations ... these guys have persevered and we still undefeated. That's a testament to some very mentally tough kids." 

It seemed as if nothing could wipe the smile off Rose's face while he watched his teammates cut down the net. 

"It means the world," said Rose. "That was the goal since day one: Go to Columbus. 

"If it wasn't for these guys I don't know what I'd be doing right now. I just give it my all every single time I'm out on the court." 

Madeira didn't fold, though. Its senior-laden squad refused to slow down, fighting to the final buzzer in a game where the Mustangs never held a lead. Senior Jack Cravaack finished with 16 points and senior Adam Wieczorek had 14. 

"That's not the character of these guys," Rockwell said of giving up. "They're gonna play hard to the absolute very end regardless of the situation cause they're winners. They made our community proud tonight by how hard they played." 

Rockwell said after the game he told his team: "When you think of guys that have been with us since elementary school, I have met with each one of these guys over their four years in high school, talked to them, laid out a vision and plan for what they want to become as adults and now it's that time ... they're gonna move on to that next chapter of life." 

For Deer Park, they're gonna move on to a state semifinal against Lutheran East (14-13) on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center. 

"There's only two more games left in the whole season of basketball and we want to be there playing those two games," said Gentry. "Like I said, we gotta take it game by game, so we gotta worry about this next team and we'll go from there." 

Madeira (19-8) - Wieczorek 6 1 14, Hoeffel 3 5 12, Johnson 4 2 11, Finke 0 2 2, Cravaack 4 8 16. Totals: 17 18 55. 

Deer Park (27-0) - Wise 0 10 10, Athie 3 0 7, Gentry Jr. 2 5 10, Rose 6 6 20, Hocker 2 4 8, Dam. Mcentire 4 0 8, Blair 1 0 2. Totals: 18 25 65. 

Halftime: Deer Park 27-15. 3-pointers: M 3 (Hoeffel, Wieczorek, Johnson); D 4 (Athie, Gentry Jr., Rose 2).