DAYTON – Going into the game, the Bethel Bees knew what they were up against.  They were battling a very good Taft High School team who had a lot of weapons that can do damage.

At one point in the game, Bethel trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter.  But they didn’t go down without a fight.
Scott Masin scored 29 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bees, but Taft claimed the victory in the Boys Division Three District finals at UD Arena 68-60 on Thursday night.
“We knew we could be looking at the state champions tonight, the number one team in the state,” Bethel coach Rick Hickman said.  “We didn’t want to play from behind to this team.”
Taft came out in the game sloppy, with turnovers on their first two times down the floor.  That allowed the Bees to jump in front 4-0, their largest lead of the game.
When Grant Samual scored an old-fashioned three-point play at the 5:00 mark, the Bees led 7-4.  In the opening quarter, there were three ties, and several lead changes in the final minute, before the Senators led 19-18 after one.  It was a big quarter for Dwayne Stafford for Taft, as he scored nine of their 19 points.
The game was also marred by a 40 minute delay in the game before the start of the second quarter, due to a medical emergency to one of the Bethel cheerleaders, who was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.  Her condition is unknown.
Once Stafford dunked to open the second quarter, it gave Taft a 21-18 lead, and they would never trail again. 
Bethel went through a stretch in the second quarter that proved to be too much to come back from.  Michael James hit a free throw at the 4:45 mark of the second period, tying the game at 25, but from there it was all Taft.  They ran off 12 straight points, and it wasn’t until the halftime buzzer sounded as Masin threw down a dunk and was fouled, to break the scoring ice for the Bees.  They went into the locker room at halftime trailing 37-28.
“When we got our point guard in foul trouble early, it really hurt us,” Hickman said.  “We had a respectable first quarter, but that stretch in the second was the key.  We just aren’t deep enough to be able to overcome that.”
The second half saw Taft continue to maintain the lead, and push it into double figures, and midway through the fourth, led 59-42.  But the Bees weren’t done.
Bethel ran off an 8-3 run to cut the lead to 12, and finished the game with six consecutive points, falling by eight.
Hickman praised the play of Masin, and his offensive effort.
“There have been many night, you can look in his eyes and he wants the ball, and is all business,” Hickman said.  “We tried to get the ball to him.  He is the foundation of the team all year.  He proved that tonight.”
Daniel Yates added 14 for Bethel, who ends the season 18-5, Sectional Champions, and co-league champions.

BOX


Taft (68)- Stafford 15, Washington 25, K. Mitchell 11, C. Mitchell 2, White 7, Johnson 8.  Total 68.
Bethel (60)- Masin 29, James 5, Samuel 7, Yates 14, Seale 3, Moore 2.  Total 60.

THS- 19  18  14  17  - 68
BHS- 18  10  11  21  - 60

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Photos courtesy of Brandon Vaughan