SMITHVILLE — If Corey Kaufman's mindset seems a little bit similar to Mark Schlabach's it's not a coincidence.
Kaufman played for Schlabach at Hiland during his high school days and coached on his staff for several years before getting the head coaching job at Smithville.
While the two coaches each run their own programs now and have plenty of differences, one thing is strikingly similar — it's all about the tournament.
Sure, regular season success is nice. Often times, it's hard to have success in the postseason without success in the regular season for a variety of reasons. But unlike many other coaches in the area, Kaufman doesn't talk about winning the Wayne County Athletic League to his team. He talks about the tournament, and preparing for winning games in March, when the trophies that matter most are up for grabs.
Smithville and Hiland both got crash courses in State Tournament 101 on day one of the Battle at the Berkey, with Emmanuel Christian and its star sophomore Jerry Easter taking down Smithville 61-58 and undefeated Div. II state title contender Bishop Ready dispatching Hiland 57-48.
Despite the losses, both local coaches left their games seeing a lot of positives after playing some of their best basketball of the season.
"(There were) a ton of positives from tonight," Kaufman said. "We executed in certain situations. We just have to be able to build on it and not let it hang over us."
Hiland became the fifth team all season to finish within single digits of Bishop Ready, which has stayed undefeated despite playing a schedule full of tough Columbus-area teams.
"It shows that too many times this year, we have not come out focused," Schlabach said. "Because when we come out focused and we play hard, we're pretty good and we can play with anybody. But our low is really low."
Smithville jumped out to a 35-26 halftime lead against Emmanuel Christian (15-2) before Easter and 6-foot-8 Jamie Rivers took over in the second half.
Kaufman knows for Smithville to achieve postseason success, it will likely have to go through a team similar to Emmanuel, who was ranked No. 3 in Div. III in the latest Associated Press poll. Last year, Smithville ran into Lutheran East in its district championship game and struggled against the Falcons' length and athleticism.
Saturday, Smithville went right at Emmanuel, getting big performances from Carter Piatt and Mac Butzer, among others, but ultimately Easter elevated his team with his spectacular play.
Ranked No. 48 in the nation in the class of 2025 by 247Sports, the 6-foot-3 Easter poured in 21 of his 36 points in the second half as Smithville's offense slowed down just enough for the Warriors to head back to Toledo with a win. Rivers also scored eight of his 14 in the fourth, as Emmanuel won the final quarter 20-11.
Still, Kaufman liked what he saw from his guys, especially Piatt and Butzer.
Piatt finished with a team-high 26 points while being matched up with Easter for extended stretches.
"There was a different side of Carter tonight, just demanding the ball in certain situations," Kaufman said. "He called his own number a couple of times. That's what we want from him — just being the guy for us."
Butzer played one of his most complete games of the year as well, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists.
"If you saw him in the summer, you know what he's capable of doing," Kaufman said. "He played downhill tonight, which he's been doing as of late. He's starting to get that into him."
Reece Riggenbach also had another solid game with 12 points, including three 3-pointers.
Smithville got off to a hot start against Emmanuel by getting out in transition and getting some easy buckets, along with getting good looks in the halfcourt.
"I think people think we're trying to play in the halfcourt all the time," Kaufman said. "We want to be able to play downhill too. If you're real deliberate against a team like that, those turn into turnovers. You have to be able to answer how they're playing defensively."
In the prior game, Hiland had Bishop Ready — ranked No. 1 in the last AP poll — tied 24-all at half before the Silver Knights' size and overall skill eventually overwhelmed the Hawks.
"That's a great team," Schlabach said of Ready. "In the second half, they showed how they can execute. They're as good at executing offensively as anybody we've played. They were tough to score against."
Charlie Russell was at the center of Ready's offensive execution, scoring a game-high 24 points as Hiland struggled to find an answer for him defensively.
It's been a season of learning for Hiland, who returned little experience from last year's Div. IV state semifinalist, but the Hawks showed their potential against Ready. Sammy Detweiler proved why he is one of the area's best two-way players, scoring a tough 21 points and guarding one of Ready's top players in Luke Ruth.
"He guarded Luke Ruth, who is a stud," Schlabach said. "He had five points and three of those were on free throws at the end. So, he held him to two points basically for the game. People don't realize how good of defensive player Sammy is. He works his butt off on both ends. Offensively, we go as he goes, but we know defensively he's going to bring it every night."
Carson Habeger looked good for the Hawks as well, scoring 13, and Alex Yoder added six.
Kaufman, who started the event last year, saw the first day of the Battle at the Berkey as a major success, with close games all over the schedule and local teams competing at a high level with some of the top teams from around Ohio.
"I don't know if it could have gone much better today," Kaufman said. "Every game I think was in single digits. We had a couple of one possession games. Incredibly exciting games and great crowds. And that's all a credit to our staff. Lorah Meech and Susan Maibach take care of basically everything day to day here and they do an awesome job."
Indian Lake 68, Norwayne 67
Indian Lake's Caiden Nicol exploded for 36 points, including the game-winner with two seconds to go, as the Lakers handed Norwayne its second loss of the season.
The Bobcats led nearly the entire game, but Nichol took over down the stretch, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter as Indian Lake held Norwayne without a field goal for the whole final quarter. The Lakers outscored Norwayne 17-7 in the fourth.
Camdon Tuttle also did a lot of damage for Indian Lake, knocking down six 3s on his way to 22 points.
Justin Rupp led Norwayne with 16 points, along with his share of impact defensive plays in the middle of the Bobcats' defense. Braden West added 14, with Beau Polen chipping in 11 and Parker Metsker scoring 10.
Gamble Montessori 62, Triway 54
In a trend that spanned all four of the games involving teams from Wayne and Holmes County on day one of the Battle for the Berkey, Triway hung with Gamble for most of the game but couldn't quite close it out against a quality opponent.
Gamble had a big scorer of its own, with Dalon Owensby going off for 28 points to lead his team to the victory.
Drew Bishko led Triway with 17 points.
Mohawk 56, Valley 52
Mohawk made enough plays down the stretch to start off a day of close calls at day one of the Battle at the Berkey.
Valley led for a large portion of the second half before Mohawk captured the lead late.
AJ Hess led Mohawk with 20 points and Jace Copley had 23 for Valley.
DAY TWO SCORES
Cardinal Stritch 62, Georgetown 60; Chippewa 60, Toledo Christian 50; Bishop Watterson 54, Woodridge 36; Northridge 49, Norton 27; Medina Buckeye 59, West Holmes 53
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