Cavaliers beat Westerville North, win sectional crown

CHILLICOTHE – In a Division I sectional final, Westerville North endured as many punches as they could from Chillicothe.

But in the end, the dosage of Tommy Bolte simply knocked them out for good.

Behind their senior guard, the Cavaliers (14-9) ousted the Warriors from the OHSAA basketball tournament with a 54-47 win, to claim a sectional title.

"It was a great team effort tonight," Chillicothe coach Eric Huffer said postgame, with a grin on his face that spanned to both ears. "I'm extremely proud of how we came out and played. We did a really good job on the defensive end. After having three weeks off, I thought we missed some shots that we typically don't but overall, we played well."

Of the Cavaliers' final total of 54 points, Bolte was responsible for 24 of them. And when he wasn't scoring, he was showing flashes of brilliance in transition, flying high for rebounds and winking to adoring fans in the process.

"Tommy is one of the best players in the state of Ohio. Not only in the southeast district but also in the central district," Huffer said. "I'm extremely proud of him and how's he really grown into being a leader. He does everything out there."

Bolte came out sizzling in the first quarter, scoring six points and single-handily keeping the Cavs in the ballgame as they trailed Westerville North 11-10, after the first eight minutes.

In the second quarter, Bolte continued to shoot and Chillicothe's defense decided to clamp down on any ensuing Warriors' offensive attack.

The Cavaliers held the Warriors to just four points altogether in the second quarter — while scoring nine themselves — to take a 19-15 lead into the locker rooms.

Westerville North took a 24-23 lead with 2:45 left in the third quarter but then allowed Chillicothe to put together a quick 5-0 scoring run to retake the lead at 28-24 with 1:56 left in the time frame — a lead that they would never relinquish.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Cavalier' lead hadn't increased or reduced as they still led by four points, 31-27.

In the final quarter of play, the Warriors tied the game at 38 with 3:33 left in regulation. After Chillicothe called a timeout to talk things over, Bolte declared the moment "Tommy Time."

With a string of trips to the free throw line and coast-to-coast drives and passes — in which junior Quintin Davidson was often the beneficiary of — Bolte had his team back on top at 46-38 with 1:37 left, capping off an 8-0 run.

From that point, the Cavaliers secured the victory by hitting their tries from the charity stripe.

Bolte also added seven rebounds and three assists while Davidson finished with 10 points and junior Nate Rosenbauer and sophomore Jordan Johnson chipped in with seven each.

With the win, Chillicothe now advances to play Gahanna Lincoln in a Divison I district semi-final contest. The two teams met earlier this season as the Golden Lions came out on top, 51-37 — a score that's misleading considering the Cavaliers were within single digits with just five minutes to play.

"We haven't really talked about Gahanna Lincoln much," Bolte said. "We were pretty focused on tonight's match-up. We'll probably come into that contest with a similar game plan since we played them so well the first time around. Defense will always be a focus point for us though. We know if we can hold (Gahanna Lincoln) to a certain amount of points, we can beat them."

Chillicothe's match-up with Gahanna Lincoln will take place at 7 p.m., March 11 with a venue to be determined.

"It'll be a different type of game (from tonight)," Huffer said. "We know that they're pretty big and their size will be a problem for us. We've got our film on them, several other films and we'll take a look. Our guys feel like they can win."

Derrick Webb is a Gazette sportswriter and can be reached at dwebb@chillicothegazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @dw1509.