DeSales to face Butler in 22nd District boys basketball championship game after tight wins

For significant portions of its game against Western, DeSales boys basketball was without Crew Gibson.

It didn’t matter.

The Colts learned they have enough pieces to stay in a game when their top player has to sit in foul trouble, and that’s a good lesson before Thursday’s 22^nd District championship game.

DeSales held on to a 55-52 win over Western Tuesday night at Doss High School in the district semifinals, setting up a rematch with Butler for the title. The Colts did it despite getting just six points from the 6-foot-8 Indiana Tech commit, who missed most of the first half after picking up a few fouls early.

Some hot shooting, especially from range and at the foul line, from Brady Cummins and contributions from Will Gibson and Tyler Klein did more than keep the Colts in the game — they won it.

“We miss a lot of rebounding and scoring, playmaking, everything (with Crew Gibson out),” DeSales coach Damien Anderson said. “To be able to battle while he was in foul trouble and keep it going, keep it close enough that we could keep it without risking too much more. Some guys really stepped up.”

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No one stepped up more than Cummins. The 6-foot-1 point guard, who finished with a game-high 21 points, buried four important 3-pointers in the first half, seemingly always when DeSales (19-10) needed to stop a budding Western (21-8) run.

None may have been bigger than the 3 he drilled at the halftime buzzer that capped a late 6-0 run and cut the Warriors' lead to 33-31.

“Tyler Klein, he was hitting a bunch (in our first meeting against Western), so they was more focused on him this game, and I guess they just came out looking at him, not me,” Cummins said. “I was open a lot, and I knocked them down.”

Yet somehow that basket — which came with a defender in his face past the left wing — was an afterthought by the end of the game because of Cummins himself.

The junior calmly drilled a pair of free throws after being fouled with just 4.9 seconds left in the game, putting the Colts up 55-52 and forcing the Warriors to have to make a 3 just to force overtime. Western’s final shot bounced harmlessly off the glass.

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“I knew I was gonna make it,” Cummins said. “I shoot a lot of free throws, spare time, wherever. Every time I’m at the line I just tell myself, ‘It’s in.’”

Anderson added, “He’s our best free-throw shooter, so we wanted to get the ball into him and we did a good job of doing that."

Klein scored 11 points, on three 3s, and Will Gibson had 11 points and five rebounds. Crew Gibson added seven boards.

Trent Hinkle, who forced three straight DeSales turnovers and scored four points himself off them, led Western with 15 points. Julius Edmonds Jr. had 11, all of them in the first half.

DESALES                    14        17        12        12  -  55

WESTERN                   18        15        12        7   -  52

DeSales (19-10) – Julian Bunton 3, DaVon Martin 3, Brady Cummins 21, Tyler Klein 11, Will Gibson 11, Crew Gibson 6.

Western (21-8) – Josiah Lawson 2, Ondre Wicks Jr. 2, Antayvion Lawrence 2, Elijah Clinton 2, Julius Edmonds 11, Trent Hinkle 15, Jayden Miles 9, Jaylen Ellis 4, Anthony Lawrence 5.

BUTLER 62, IROQUOIS 61

Butler coach Kevin Geary could not explain how his team managed to survive a nearly flawless night from Iroquois’ Jamir Ford.

The senior dropped 27 points, recording his 1,000^th for his career, and seemed to be toying with the Bears’ defense all night. But he could not make good on a few close, yet contested, looks at the basket late and Butler made just enough shots on the other end to hang on to a 62-61 win over the Raiders and set up a rematch with DeSales on Thursday night.

“We knew it was gonna be like that going into the game,” Geary said. “It was always meant to be one of those games.”

Butler (21-8) erased a 55-49 deficit with less than four minutes to play, thanks in part to turning over Ford twice in the final few minutes. Terry Walker scored five points in two possessions off turnovers to put the Bears ahead 60-58 with less than a minute to play.

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Iroquois’ Jordan Williamson then missed the final shot at the buzzer after Butler couldn’t make the front end of a 1-and-1 at the line, handing Butler the win.

Dontre Russell led the Bears with 14 points as four different players reached double figures. That balance has been Butler’s hallmark all year, along with the resilience it showed to shrug off multiple late deficits.

“It’s always just been everybody does their job, everybody knows their role, they do it really well and they just find a way to win,” Geary said.

Iroquois (20-12) will have to wait at least another year to end a 14-year district championship drought.

IROQUOIS                   16        12        16        17  -  61

BUTLER                      20        8          11        23  -  62

Iroquois (20-12) – Alonzo Basemore 12, Kevin Johnson 10, Jamir Ford 27, Javion Stone 2, Jordon Williamson 6, Davion Peals.

Butler (21-8) – Dontre Russell 14, Dayton Williams 12, Markel Meriweather 2, Jaron Sullivan 13, Jayden Perkins 10, Ben Hayes 2, Terry Walker 9.

Follow assistant sports editor Jake Adams on Twitter @jakeadams520 or email him at jadams@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA boys basketball: DeSales vs Butler in 22nd District championship