OXFORD — Rodney Parrett is beginning to think the process is paying off for his Talawanda High School boys basketball team — even if some of the results may not be the prettiest.
“I’m to the point now where these guys are learning how to win,” the first-year Brave coach said. “If it’s sloppy, it’s sloppy.”
It wasn’t pristine Tuesday night, but Talawanda chalked up another victory.
Brayden Douglas scored a team-high 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Sam Lippmann added 12 points and Connor Pulaski had 11 as the Brave used a dominant second half to beat the Cincinnati Christian Cougars 47-27 at the THS gymnasium.
Talawanda (5-8) has won four of its last five after starting the season 1-7.
“We’re going to take any W,” Parrett said. “These are great kids, and they’re seeing it now. I just told them before we started the game, I said, ‘Hey, we’ve won three out of our last four games. We’re headed the right way. Champions don’t happen overnight. It’s baby steps. Get there to the top. It’s one game at a time.’”
Parrett said it started at Madison’s Brian Cook Classic during Christmas break. The Brave came out of the two-day tournament as champions by knocking off the host Mohawks and Lebanon Christian.
“They’re seeing how to win,” Parrett said. “They’re seeing it in practice. They’re great kids. They’re fun to coach. They’re fun to be around. They’re learning how to get it done.
“We talk about consistency a ton — consistency as a team. The team has to stay here, and by doing that, that means when someone’s off, two other guys have to be on. The team consistency is what we worry about, not the individual.”
Talawanda has won two in a row against CCS, including a 67-60 victory on the road back on Jan. 15, 2022. Cincinnati Christian won the three meetings prior dating back to the 2015-16 season.
The Cougars (4-6) came off a 69-53 win over Twin Valley South but have now lost three of its last four.
“We just need to get better,” CCS coach Brian Gunter said. “We’re young, we only have two seniors. But we really need to step it up and just work hard.
“We’re always looking for that team leader, and we’ve been struggling with that a little bit. We just have to realize that it’s 32 minutes of basketball, and if you’re out there on the floor, you’ve got to work your tail off for four or five minutes. You’re spent, you come out, get a rest, and it’s the next guy up. We’re trying to get that mentality.”
Branden Cox bucketed a game-high 14 points for Cincinnati Christian, which shot just 3 of 23 (13%) from 3-point range.
The Brave led 11-7 after the first quarter and 19-18 heading into the halftime break. Talawanda outscored CCS 28-9 in the second half to pull away.
“At the turn of the year, our coaches really emphasize — especially this upcoming stretch — that we definitely want to be laser-focused throughout all of our practices,” said Lippmann, a senior guard. “I think it’s starting to show on the court.
“We’re getting more comfortable playing with each other. I think it’s just all about time. That just helps with playing, getting game reps instead of just practicing. We put in a new offense a few weeks ago that’s helped out, which is giving us more options.”
Talawanda shot 7 of 20 from beyond the arc and a perfect 8 for 8 at the free throw line.
“Our guys are starting to see things and see us checking boxes and getting stuff done,” Parrett said. “Now, we’re gelling, and we’re getting somewhere.”
Talawanda is 1-1 in Southwest Ohio Conference play and hosts Mount Healthy on Friday. Cincinnati Christian sits at 2-1 in the Miami Valley Conference travels to New Miami on Saturday and hosts Dayton Christian next Tuesday before getting into the bulk of its league schedule.
