XENIA — Northmont scored seven dunks Wednesday afternoon in a 73-45 non-conference victory over Troy during the 8th Annual Benner Field House Classic in Xenia sponsored by Germain Honda and Ford.

B.J. Hatcher and Da’lin Wilkins scored three dunks each and Victor Drummond had one. Hatcher led the Thunderbolts with 19 points, Drummond had 16 and Wilkins 14.

The Thunderbolts led 19-4 at the end of the first quarter, 29-19 at halftime, and 53-37 after three quarters during the 73-45 win.

Evan Kaiser led Troy with 10 points.

Northmont coach Darnell Hoskins was happy to see his team do a better job trusting what the coaching staff has been preaching during practice.

“It doesn’t matter who we play. For us, it’s just us trusting our process,” Hoskins said. “We are starting to build on some practice fundamentals and principles that I thought early on we were lacking. It was really refreshing to see players buy into the system.

“We asked them at the beginning of the game if they really trust our system and I think a few guys got eye opening experiences out there because they allowed our offense to develop and defensively they stayed engaged,” Hoskins stated. “They didn’t talk as much on the defensive end, but I will take the effort and energy they gave us defensively.”

Hoskins felt his team got more opportunities to score in transition because they were engaged off the ball. He pointed out that because of the team’s speed, quickness, and athleticism the Thunderbolts can force opponents to commit turnovers at a high clip.

“Everybody has to be engaged off the ball and that is what we weren’t doing early in the season,” Hoskins said. “People were hugging their man and not staying engaged the entire possession, so we were missing opportunities to steal the ball because they were too close to their man and not up the line like they have been taught.”

Hoskins said that it was nice to see his players stay engaged defensively and off the ball so that they had the position to get steals.

“I thought we did a pretty good job of turning them over tonight and then finishing in transition,” Hoskins added.

Benner Field House, known as “The Snake Pit” to locals, was constructed on the site of a former city dump and from 1939 to 1977 and served as the physical education building for the rapidly-growing population of Xenia Central High School.

The last varsity game in the Field House was played on Feb. 22, 1977. It survived the infamous 1974 Xenia Tornado that destroyed the high school located only a few blocks away.

Benner Field House fell into disrepair due to its age. Renovations to make the building safe to use again took place throughout 2019.

This year’s Benner Field House Classic featured a junior varsity girls game between Carlisle and Xenia at 11:15 a.m. followed by the Carlisle and Xenia varsity girls at 1 p.m., and varsity boys games between Carlisle and Legacy Christian at 2:45 p.m., Northmont and Troy at 4:30 p.m., Lakota West and Beavercreek at 6:15 p.m. and Miamisburg and Xenia at 8 p.m.

TRO 04 15 18 08 – 45

NMT 19 10 24 20 – 73

Troy: Bryce Haught 4-0-8, Hudson Furlong 2-1-6, Aiden Luis 0-1-1, Kellen Miller 3-0-8, Isaac Burns 1-0-2, Brady O’Leary 1-0-3, Evan Kaiser 3-3-10, Nathan McDowell 3-0-7. Totals: 17-5-45.

Northmont: B.J. Hatcher 8-2-19, Victor Drummond 8-0-16, Da’lin Wilkins 6-2-14, Danny Sluterbeck 1-0-2, Javen Vaughn 2-0-5, Chisom Ibe 3-0-6, Brady Weaver 3-2-9, Cameron Tyree 1-0-2. Totals: 32-6-73.

Three-point field goals: Troy 6 (Miller 2, Furlong, O’Leary, Kaiser, McDowell); Northmont 3 (Hatcher, Vaughn, Weaver).

Records: Troy 3-5, Northmont 5-4.

Reach Ron Nunnari by email: [email protected].