The limited crowd at Fort Loramie on Tuesday night and the large online and radio audiences tuned to the Redskins-Rockets clash may be rockin’ and rollin’.
Anna’s middle two quarters of offense versus Botkins on Friday and Fort Loramie’s last three quarters of offense versus Convoy Crestview on Saturday produced nearly 100 combined points.
The Anna and Fort Loramie boys will likely be at their best again on Tuesday. Both are trying to catch Botkins, the leader of the Shelby County Athletic League.
Anna is 8-4 overall and 5-2 in the SCAL. Fort Loramie is 9-5 overall and tied with Jackson Center at 5-3 in the SCAL. Botkins is 12-1 and 6-1.
ScoresBroadcast.com will begin its pre-game segment at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. WMVR, 105.5 TAM FM, will simulcast.
This past weekend, Anna’s 61-59 victory over Botkins and Fort Loramie’s 65-59 triumph over Convoy Crestview attracted nearly 4,000 listeners to SCORES, the Shelby County Online Radio Entertainment System.
“When the contests are close and very competitive, and the two clubs are within a few possessions of each other in the fourth period, our audience really soars,” said Chuck McBee, SCORES engineer and color announcer.
The Anna Rockets soared on Friday, blistering the nets for 60 percent shooting during 20 of the 32 minutes, after falling behind early, 12-5. In one stretch, Anna pummeled Botkins, 38-14, before the Trojans rallied in the fourth quarter.
Also off to a slow start and down, 8-2, in the first four minutes, the streaky Redskins became red hot, too, nailing about 50 percent of their shots versus Crestview.
Momentum was in full swing back on Dec. 8 when Anna and Fort Loramie squared off in their initial meeting. The Rockets closed the game outscoring the Redskins, 48-18, and won easily, 70-52.
“These are skilled high school players who perform hard on offense and defense all the time,’ McBee noted. “But sometimes ‘Mighty Mo’ runs the show. That monumental shift in early December at the Anna gym was incredible.”
Lane Frilling tallied a dozen points to pace Fort Loramie versus Anna the first time around. Isaiah Masteller and Ben Kovas split 44 in half for Anna.
The Northwest Central Conference is tighter than the SCAL. In fact, Lima Perry at 5-0 and Lehman Catholic at 3-0 are tied for the NWCC lead. SCORES and WMVR cover the Cavaliers’ make-up tilt against Upper Scioto Valley on Wednesday night at 7 PM.
Lehman Catholic, now 9-1 overall, posted a pair of triumphs last weekend, beating Ridgemont, 45-40, and Ansonia, 48-39. The last time the Cavs were winning this consistently in mid-January was during the 2008-09 campaign. That season Lehman finished 21-3.
