Vandalia-Butler’s Aviators journeyed to Darke County Friday night and parlayed a combination of inside strength and quickness into a 66-47 victory over the Greenville Green Wave in Miami Valley League action.
6’4” junior Julius Rusk dominated the paint on his way to a game-high 22 points as Butler was able to get to the basket in converting 27 of 48 shots. Meanwhile 5’9” senior guard TJ Green with 14 points led a host of Aviators in penetrating the lane for layups and close-in shots.
From the start of the game, it was obvious that Butler’s strategy was to limit the Wave’s 6’1” senior, Drew Hamilton, from getting to the rim and doing damage. Hamilton came into the contest averaging 18.5 points per game but was hounded all night, being held to but two free throws in the first half and a single basket in the second for a total of four points.
Butler jumped out to a 20-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and brought more pressure in the second stanza, which the Wave, for the most part, handled with some success. 6’4” junior Johnny Barr contributed nine points, and senior Liam Jasenski hit two threes on his way to eight first-half points to lead the GHS attack. Two Butler foul shots with .4 seconds showing on the clock sent the visitors to the locker room at halftime holding a 32-27 advantage.
Butler scored the first six points coming out of the break, forcing Wave Coach Matt Hamilton to call a quick timeout and try to settle things for the Green and White. With Rusk and teammates continuing to control the interior, the lead stretched to 48-34 at the end of the third quarter as the Wave went cold from the field, making only two field goals.
The fourth period saw V-B increase their lead to 55-37 at the 6:46 mark, allowing the Wave to get no closer than fifteen points the rest of the game. Jasenski paced Greenville’s scoring with 12 points while Barr finished with 9, sophomore Michael McMahon contributed 8, and junior David Conway added 6.
Unofficially the battle of the boards was fairly even with Greenville having a 21-20 edge while Butler had 10 turnovers compared to the home team’s 13. Butler was 27 of 48 from the field, 4 of 7 from 3-point range while the Wave were 16 of 44 and 6 of 19 from beyond the arc. Vandalia converted only 8 of 16 from the charity stripe with Greenville making 9 of 13 free throws.
Butler remains undefeated in the young season, advancing to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in MVL play while the Wave falls to 0-3, and 0-2 in conference action. Next up for Butler is a home contest with Fairborn Tuesday night with Greenville swinging back into action at Troy Tuesday before returning home to face Xenia Friday.