#1 Bishop Hartley 55, #2 River Valley 52 - Game Recap
HAWKS SURVIVE FOR THEIR FIRST DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 2019
COLUMBUS, Ohio - - “Glory to God, and that isn’t a cliche,” second year head coach Andreas James said after his Bishop Hartley team outlasted a tough River Valley team 55-52 in the district finals at Central Crossing. “I'm just really proud of our kids, they been battling, we been at this since September the 5th.”
This marks the Bishop Hartley Hawks (22-3) first district championship since 2019 and they did it in a fashion that they know best, in a close game against a tough River Valley (19-6) team.
Junior sharpshooter Carson Svetek started the game on fire, hitting the first two three’s that he attempted and scoring nine of his 10 total points in the opening frame of the ball game. River Valley senior and district player of the year Carson Smith matched him with nine points himself to lead his team. First team all district Bishop Hartley junior guard Jaden Calloway stuffed the stat sheet with four points, three assists and two steals for the Hawks as they took a 17-14 lead into the second frame, he ended the game with nine points and four assists.
The surrounding cast for River Valley came alive in the second quarter, senior Ayden Kenney and Sawyer Weston helped Smith with six points between the two young men. River Valley took a 25-23 advantage into the break after sophomore guard Christian King took an offensive foul towards the end of the half on Carson Smith to not let the lead get to four before the end of the half.
James spoke to how the Vikings determination did not rattle his tough minded team, saying, “the main thing I was telling the guy was keep your composure, calm down, we been in a lot of dogfights, we’re not a team that gets high and low, we try to stay middle of the road and I knew if we were going to go out we were going to go out with composure, we weren’t going to get rattled.”
Rattled, they did not get, even when River Valley’s Chase Ebert hit a three to give the Vikings a 40-37 lead over the Hawks in the fourth quarter. Sophomore point guard Jahki Calloway not only led his team with 14 points, with 12 in the second half, and his back-to-back buckets put Hartley ahead and subsequent free throw put his team ahead 48-44, a lead they would never relinquish.
“He just picked it up, defensively, offensively, he just refused to lose,” James said, describing his point guard. “They both were like, nah, let’s just play mano-e-mano and we listen to those guys and they really just settled down, defended and gave those guys a hard time.”
Senior Ethan Godfrey buried a three from Carson Svedek for a 51-47 lead in the game, sending the Hartley section into a frenzy. It was his second triple of the quarter, saving all of his six points for the fourth quarter and adding three blocks and two steals on the night.
“We took it more serious, coming out in the second half, we did good keeping our composure,” the younger Calloway said after the game. “I can’t look like I’m scared, ball slipping out my hands and turnovers, coach told me take it more serious.”
Not only did he take it more seriously, but his teammates also responded to that message, holding district player of the year Carson Smith to four points after he scored 14 in the first half.
After a block from Godfrey, he was hit with a technical foul and Smith drained two free throws, then Carson Smith hit a three to cut Hawks lead to three.
Senior Pharez Nicolas threw the ball away on an inbounds pass with 5.9 seconds on the clock ahead by what would be the final score, giving the Vikings a chance at a shot to send the game into overtime. Senior Chase Ebert’s desperation triple fell short as time expired and gave Bishop Hartley the 55-52 win and their first district championship since 2019.
“The families, the Bishop Hartley community, it’s nothing about me, it’s about the situation I’m in and being a blessing for others, I feel good about this,” James ended with, showing his hallmark gratitude and humbleness.
Hartley will now head to Athens for a March 14th matchup at Ohio University to face the winner of Zanesville Maysville and Gnadenhutten Indian Valley.