Tigers rally to blow by Cougars 65-48

WILLARD - Turning a page in the second half.Albeit late in the third quarter, Seneca East knew it needed to step on the gas if it wanted to have any chance of taking another step in the tournament gauntlet.An 11-2 run with the 3:42 remaining, and a barrage of points from Landyn Hicks and Jaron Depinet was just enough to turn the tide of the game."It was a battle for sure," Hicks said. "But once we cleaned up the offense, and we got going, there was no stopping us."Second-seeded SE routed fourth-seeded Ashland Crestview 65-48 in a Division VI district semifinal on Wednesday at Robert L. Haas Gymnasium."Crestview got too comfortable in the first half," Tigers coach Anthony Langhurst said. "Their role players played really well, and we turned the page in the second half and made some defensive adjustments. I'm just happy for the guys."Coming out of an AC timeout, the Tigers (18-7) forced the Cougars (13-11) to turn the ball over, and Hicks capitalized on the opportunity by going in on a layup, tying the game at 37.The tiebreak and pull ahead for the Tigers came on Depinet's ability to get the back-to-back buckets, and the score went to 41-37.From there, Brady Bloom drilled his final triple of the night, making it 44-37.Crestview tried to wake up, after being quiet most of the quarter with a basket from Karter Goon.Depinet responded with the final two points of the quarter with mere seconds remaining, and the score 46-39."We were a little careless before then with the ball and let them make easy baskets," Langhurst said. "I reminded them that's not what we have been practicing. They took pride in the second half and flipped the script."Up until the third quarter, SE never had the lead, but the race to show AC started with Hicks being at the free throw line and splitting his pair. Less than a minute later, Bloom drilled a trey and sliced the lead within nine points, 37-28.From there with 5 minutes on the clock, Depinet made a bucket, which forced a timeout from Crestview.Coming out of the timeout, Depinet was fouled after a steal and made another trip to the free throw line, splitting his pair, but within 10 seconds, he had the ball back and drilled a triple.Right before the tie, and with 3:50 on the clock, Ayden Perkins scored a basket after an offensive rebound from a missed Logan Collins bucket.In the fourth quarter, SE continued to pile on the points, with a combination of Hicks and Depinet, with six free throws from Luke Mason, who was 10-of-10 all night."Landyn is a heck of a kid, " Langhurst said. "I told him that he has the ability to do special things, but he has embraced it. He has been working on his inside shot, and he has just blossomed into an awesome player for us tonight."Hicks was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 17 points, followed by Depinet with 16, Mason with 15 and Bloom with 10."I have to give credit to my teammates, as it's easy to get shots down low," Hicks said. "Jaron and Luke get me the ball so I can take the shots, and it's all them."In the five years that Langhurst has been at the helm, if they make it past top seed Van Buren (19-3) on Friday at Liberty-Benton at 6 p.m., then it will be the second regional trip in program history."Our role players have blossomed," Langhurst said of having four score in double digits. "I told them at the beginning of the year what their role is and to build on it. Once we see success on that, then we give them a go ahead to advance on other things. They have grown to be confident and trust in their teammates. Tonight was a prime example of it." Seneca East 65, Ashland Crestview 48ASHLAND CRESTVIEW (13-11): Daniel Wells 5-1-13, Max Durbin 1-1-4, Karter Goon 6-1-13, Kaden Kissel 1-0-2, Drew Spoerr 6-0-16 TOTALS: 19-3-48SENECA EAST (18-7): Ayden Perkins 3-1-7, Luke Mason 2-10-15, Brady Bloom 3-1-10, Jaron Depinet 7-2-16, Landon Hicks 8-1-17 TOTALS: 24-15-65Ashland Crestview 19 13 7 9 –48Seneca East 15 9 22 19 –65Three-point goals: Ashland Crestview 7 (Spoerr 4, Wells 2, Durbin); Seneca East 4 (Bloom 3, Mason)