CANAL WINCESTER – Sometimes scouting reports and game plans don’t matter. The Fredericktown boys basketball team had no answer for the pace and athleticism of Harvest Prep.
The Warriors jumped out to a 31-4 lead in the second quarter and rolled to a 65-34 victory in a Division III district semifinal on Tuesday, March 3.
“It’s just disappointing,” an emotional Fredericktown coach Derek Dibling said. “You feel for those seniors. It was kind of a perfect storm from start to finish in about every aspect. We couldn’t do anything offensively, defensively ... they just kind of had their way.”
Brian Beavers did the most damage by knocking down five 3-pointers during that initial stretch. His 15 points led second-seeded Harvest Prep, and he added four rebounds as well.
“We knew (Fredericktown) could shoot the ball,” Harvest Prep coach David Dennis said. “So we really tried to (get out) on their shooters and limit the space that they had. Usually, we trap a lot. But we didn’t want to do that tonight to make sure none of them were left open. That was a huge adjustment.”
The Warriors (19-0) got 11 points each from Mario Davis and Nyelle Shaheed. Davis had four rebounds, four steals and three assists; and Shaheed had five rebounds.
Marshawn Oliver added eight points; and Terrance Key had six points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals for Harvest Prep, which built a 48-12 lead at the break — enough to start the second half with a running clock.
“It’s unfortunate, but fortunate that we were at home,” Dennis said. “When you have that home court advantage, everybody has that sweet spot that really helps.”
Harvest Prep is well-versed in tournament play. The Warriors were still in the tournament when the season was canceled because of the COVID-19 shutdown last year. They were in the state tournament the previous two years, reaching the semifinal in 2018 before winning the state title in 2019.
“In my pregame talk was the last seven years, we’ve been to the state tournament five times,” Dennis said. “That’s always our goal. But we also have unknown players. We just lost CJ Anthony, who we had for the last four years. Now we don’t. We have a brand-new, young team. But they’re hungry. That’s what you have in a program. The young guys work hard and they pay their dues, and now it’s their time to shine.”
Anthony scored 2,395 points in his career at Harvest Prep, which puts him as one of the top scorers in the history of the state.
Sixth-seeded Fredericktown got its footing a little bit in the third quarter. Lincoln Cunningham scored six of his team-high 14 points in the period. He also had five rebounds for the game.
Kaid Cunningham and Caleb Sheriff scored eight points apiece, Ty Hatfield pulled down nine rebounds and Thomas Caputo had five steals for the Freddies (21-3).
Fredericktown had eight seniors, including six in a seven-player rotation. Cunningham, a sophomore, will be the only one back next season who saw significant playing time.
“There’s nothing easy about winning games — really ever,” Dibling said. “You just have to work. I think that’s the message. I don’t know if we’re starting from scratch. But we’ll hopefully get a summer (where) we’ll start evaluating. We’ll give these guys some time to breathe, and then we’ll get back at it.”
