CENTERVILLE — Northmont overcame a pesky West Carrollton defense to post a 54-36 victory Friday at Centerville in the opening round of the boys Division I Southwest 2 sectional tournament.

“I thought they would come out and play us in zone as everybody else has because I don’t think a lot of people are very confident in playing us man-to-man,” said Northmont coach Darnell Hoskins.

Hoskins told his players all week that they have to become masters of breaking down zone defenses.

“That’s what everybody we face is going to play, so we welcomed it, we prepared all week for it and it didn’t surprise us one bit,” Hoskins said. “Once we settled in we finally started to get some gaps in the zone, executed and started to make some shots.”

Junior guards B.J. Hatcher paced the Thunderbolts with 19 points and Victor Drummond had 11 while senior forward Da’lin Wilkins tossed in 10.

Chylan Ingram led the Pirates with 20 points.

Defensively the Thunderbolts blocked several West Carrollton shots with Wilkins, Drummond and Chisom Ibe swatting away shots throughout the game.

“I think people look at our size and it’s kind of deceptive,” Hoskins noted. “Da’lin is an animal… an athletic freak. Chisom is very deceptive because his arms are like go-go gadget arms, and Victor is deceptively long. I think our team is deceptively long.

“When you look at us in a program, all our guys are 6-foot-1 or 6-foot-2ish. Everybody is that way,” Hoskins continued. “We’ve got a lot of like-sized switches which give us great flexibility on the defensive end of the floor.”

Northmont held a three point lead after the first period and led by 11 at halftime. That lead swelled to 18 entering the fourth quarter as the Thunderbolts cruised to victory.

West Carrollton concludes its season 10-12 overall.

No. 5 seed Northmont, now 15-8 overall, advances to face No. 10 seed Lebanon, which is 12-10 overall, Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. also at Centerville.

“I am extremely proud of this team. This time of year, it’s about surviving and advancing,” Hoskins added.

WSC 07 07 08 14 – 36

NMT 10 15 15 14 – 54

West Carrollton: Antonio Robinson 1-1-3, Ken Davis, Jr. 1-0-3, Chylan Ingram 7-6-20, Samson Jackson 1-0-2, Brandon Foster 0-1-1, Brycen Jones 1-0-3, Joseph Ingram 2-0-4. Totals: 13-8-36.

Northmont: Victor Drummond 4-2-11, Da’lin Wilkins 4-2-10, B.J. Hatcher 6-5-19, Javen Vaughn 3-0-8, Chisom Ibe 3-0-6. Totals: 20-9-54.

Three-point field goals: West Carrollton 2 (Davis, Jones); Northmont 5 (Hatcher 2, Vaughn 2, Drummond).

Records: West Carrollton 10-12, Northmont 15-8.

Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].