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(Photos and story by Steven Wright / Dayton Daily News)

Troy jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first four and a half minutes before Bellbrook got on the scoreboard. The Trojans led 21-3 after the first quarter.

But they weren’t able to hang on.

A second half rally by Bellbrook saw them overcome their early woes to prevail 51-47 during Tuesday’s Benner Fieldhouse Classic event in Xenia.

Bellbrook (5-4) shaved off points from its deficit as the minutes wore on, trailing by eight entering the fourth quarter, until senior David Gregory came alive shooting.

Gregory connected on a trio of triples, one tying the game and the final one putting the Golden Eagles in front for the first time with 1:50 remaining.

“It was in one of the timeouts near the end of the third that I told the team there were three sets we were going to run and we need to get David more shots,” Bellbrook head coach Donnie Tate said. “And this is a great group and they all knew that we needed to get him more shots and they wanted that to happen. You don’t need to fight that battle with them.”

Bellbrook couldn’t put the game away at the free throw line — going 10-for-19 in the contest — and allowed Troy several looks at perimeter shots to tie the game in the final minute. The Trojans didn’t score during the final three minutes, however, and Gregory eventually hit one from the line with 12 seconds left to secure the win.

Gregory had 17 points for Bellbrook. Troy (4-4) had 15 points by senior Aiden Luis and 13 from junior Brady O’Leary.

Tate said he has not been able to figure out how his team gets off to slow starts. A similar situation played out in a game against Waynesville on Dec. 20 which saw the Golden Eagles end up prevailing 46-43.

“We’ve got a couple of football players and when they get angry they play a little bit better. I don’t know if I need to yell at them before we go out there. Something to get them angry before we play,” Tate said.

Getting through the starts has been stressful to experience for Bellbrook, but is relieving when it works.

Bellbrook returns to league play Friday with a game at Talawanda. Troy travels to Fairborn on Friday night.

Oakwood 67, Xenia 45

Oakwood held Xenia scoreless through the first quarter and didn’t let them get too close the rest of the way to end a three-game losing skid.

The Buccaneers failed to score in the first and fourth quarters for all but a 40-second stretch of game time.

“It’s nice when a scouting report comes to fruition,” Oakwood head coach Paul Stone said. “Sometimes those baskets go in and it did not early for them. We rebounded the ball and took advantage of it.”

Xenia (3-4) immediately went into a full court press trailing 17-0 to start the second quarter and slowly was able to find rhythm. Oakwood (4-3) responded to nearly every basket as freshman Andrew Woeste heated up from the outside, hitting four 3s, and the Lumberjacks were able to extend its lead to 21 by halftime.

Momentum in the third quarter was on Xenia’s side as they were able to cut the deficit down to eight. The light switched flipped again for Oakwood as soon as its lead went into single digits. They scored the final six points of the quarter and didn’t let the foot off the gas in the fourth.

“I’ve watched [Xenia] play multiple times and they don’t ever stop and keep on fighting,” Stone said. “I watched them at Stebbins the other day when they were down almost 20 and came back and maybe should have won.

“They were going to punch us in the mouth and did in the third quarter. We wobbled a bit and then we kind of punched back.”

Woeste scored 27 points for Oakwood and senior Owen Hoersting added 17 and plowed his way to the basket throughout the game for easy layups.

Xenia got 14 points from junior Devin Withers and 12 by sophomore Anthony Caudill Jr.

The loss was Xenia’s first by more than three points this season.

Oakwood hosts Carlisle next on Friday, and Xenia hosts West Carrollton on Saturday.