He had essentially the same feeling going into Friday’s Division II sectional tournament opener against ninth-seeded New Richmond at Princeton High School, but his 12th-seeded Rams handed him a resounding reprieve. They sank 5-of-7 3-pointers in the third quarter while outscoring the Lions of the Southern Buckeye Athletic/Academic Conference, 23-9, on the way to a convincing 71-42 win.
“It’s a nice feeling,” the 65-year-old Kreke said.
The Rams, who averaged a Greater Catholic League Co-Ed Division-worst 46.1 points per game during the regular season while finishing last with a 1-9 record and going 5-17 overall, went 11-for-24 on 3-pointers on the way to a season-high 71 points. Sophomore guard Cooper Ollis was one of three Badin players with three 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 13 points. Freshman guard James Brink connected on three 3-pointers and added 12 points. Sophomore forward Nathan Lindesmith also hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.
Badin also outscored New Richmond, 17-5, in bench points and 15-8 in points off turnovers.
“We don’t want to go home on a loss,” Ollis said. “We want to keep going.”
The Rams, who were knocked out of the tournament by Monroe in the first round last season, earned a second-round berth on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Princeton against sixth-seeded and 16-6 Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy of the Miami Valley Conference. The Eagles have lost two of their lost three games.
Kreke admitted that he knew little to nothing about CHCA.
“I know they play a zone (defense),” he said. “A couple of my assistants have watched them. I’ll find out more (Friday) night.”
Badin never trailed after New Richmond taking a 3-2 lead and Ollis’ 3-pointer 1 minute, 35 seconds into the game. The Rams led by as many as 32 points on the way to their biggest win of the season.
From Kreke’s point of view, that was way better than the first half, when Badin had just one turnover but let by only seven as halftime.
“We got good production,” Kreke said. “We had a good finish.”
The Lions, who won their last two regular-season games and three of their last four, ended up going 1-for-15 on 3-pointers, but Kreke credited his team’s emphasis on the “little things” with being the crucial turning point. New Richmond collected six offensive rebounds in the first half, but after a stern halftime talking-to, Badin allowed the Lions to grab only two in the second half.
“We know we can shoot the 3s, but we don’t rely on that,” the coach said.
Kreke also credited the Rams’ grueling Greater Catholic League Co-Ed Division schedule with helping prepare them for the tournament run.
“I think the coaches respect that,” he said. “I think we were like 3-15 at the time of the seeding meeting and they still seeded us 12th. The GCL is a grind.”
“We know we play a tough schedule,” Ollis said.
Brink scored eight points and junior forward Grant Wissman added seven to help Badin lead by as many as 11 points, 27-16, with 1:59 left in the second quarter before settling for a 29-22 halftime lead. The Rams shot 38.5 percent (5-of-13) on 3-pointers before halftime, which was red hot compared to New Richmond’s 0-for-4.
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