Waynesville, Ohio — Preble Shawnee traveled to Waynesville for an early-season test against the 1-0 Waynesville Spartans. The Arrows’ duo of Mason Shrout and Bryce Singleton have been trouble for defenses this season. Shrout is one of the top freshman in the Dayton area and Singleton is a solid big man who has played well during his time at Preble Shawnee.
Waynesville comes into this season with a lot to prove. After an early exit last year against Dunbar in the tournament, senior guard Kohl Todd has a lot to prove going into his senior season. Waynesville got a convincing win over Milton-Union last week and the Spartans looked to knock off another solid SWBL team in Preble Shawnee.
It was obvious this game was going to be very back and forth from the opening tip. Waynesville forward Luke Zebell nailed a three, then Shrout hit a three for Shawnee. Kohl Todd then dished a dime to former Centerville guard Josh Mitchell to put the Spartans back up. Todd and Shrout would battle each other as they each hit a pair of threes on consecutive possessions.
Preble Shawnee extended their first quarter lead as Shrout hit a step-back jumper. Then he dished it out to Dylan Hatmaker for a three. Hatmaker would get a steal on the very next play and then pass it to Shrout for the easy layup as the Arrows took a 28-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Former Dayton Elite teammates Bryce Singleton and Kohl Todd exchanged buckets as Singleton went to work down low for the post bucket. Then Todd followed that up with a deep three. Shrout continued to dominate in both inside and perimeter scoring. Waynesville’s shooting kept them in the game as Todd, Seth Bloom, and Paul Dotson all hit three’s for the Spartans. Waynesville trailed 40-31 at the half.
A huge and-one from Luke Zebell and then a transition score from Josh Mitchell brought Waynesville back within two to begin the second half. Preble Shawnee then extended their lead as Bryce Singleton hit a tough euro. Then Mason Shrout finished an and-one before Hatmaker extended the lead to seven with a transition layup. Preble Shawnee led 54-45 heading into the fourth quarter.
Kohl Todd began the final quarter hot as he hit a pair of threes. Josh Mitchell then began to lockup Shrout as the freshman who was unstoppable in the first half suddenly became cold. Mitchell blocked Shrout and then Todd took it coast to coast for the layup. A three from Paul Dotson in the corner tied the game at 56 a piece with just 4:40 to go.
On the very next possession, Sam Warren dished it inside to Mitchell who finished the and-one to give Waynesville the lead. Then Mitchell stole the ball from Shrout and took it all the way for a layup to extend the Spartans lead to 61-56. Down 62-61, Dylan Hatmaker then got a huge steal before being fouled on his ensuing layup attempt. Hatmaker tied the game but missed the second free-throw to take the lead. On the following possession, Luke Zebell scored off of a nice entry pass from Payton Layne to give Waynesville back the lead.
Seth Bloom made one of the biggest plays of the game as he took a charge from Bryce Singleton. Preble Shawnee was forced to foul. Kohl Todd made both free-throws as the Spartans extended the lead to 66-62. Shrout pump-faked a three which drew a jump from Zebell. Shrout thought he got fouled on the shot as he threw up a prayer but a no-call from the officials sealed the victory for Waynesville. Todd finished with an incredible 34 points including 6/10 from three and 10/18 from the field.
Waynesville improves to 2-0 (2-0, SWBL) on the season and is now sitting atop of the SWBL Buckeye Standings. Preble Shawnee drops to 1-2 (1-1, SWBL) and will look to bounce back with a home game on Friday as they host Dixie. Waynesville will look to keep the wheels rolling as they battle Northridge on the road on Friday.