Russia’s Hayden Quinter flies toward the hoop during a Division IV regional semifinal against Troy Christian on Tuesday at Trent Arena in Kettering. Quinter led the Raiders with 17 points (eight of which came in the fourth quarter) and three steals.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Russia’s Braylon Cordonnier shoots as Troy Christian’s Frank Rupnik defends during a Division IV regional semifinal on Tuesday at Trent Arena in Kettering. Cordonnier scored 15 points.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Russia’s Brayden Monnin is fouled by Troy Christian’s Christian Brusman during a Division IV regional semifinal on Tuesday at Trent Arena in Kettering.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
KETTERING — Hayden Quinter had a dunk go halfway down the net and somehow pop back out in the fourth quarter on Tuesday against Troy Christian.
It was about the only thing that didn’t go well for Quinter in the quarter.
After Troy Christian pulled within one point in the fourth, Quinter scored four points in the span of a few seconds to help Russia start to pull away to a 41-33 victory in a Division IV regional semifinal at Trent Arena.
The Raiders (24-3) advance to face Shelby County Athletic League rival Jackson Center at 7 p.m. in a regional final on Friday in Kettering. The winner will earn a state berth.
“We’re happy to have the opportunity to play Friday against Jackson Center,” Russia interim coach Spencer Cordonnier said. “We’ve always had the upmost respect for each other’s programs. We’ll throw it up in the air and see what happens.”
Quinter, a junior guard, scored 17 points on Tuesday, including eight in the fourth quarter, to help give Russia another game against the Tigers.
The Raiders led by 13 in the first half, but the Eagles slowly battled back and pulled within 29-28 with six minutes left in the fourth.
But Quinter drove inside, scored and drew a foul with about five minutes left. He missed his foul shot, and the ball went out of bounds off a Troy Christian player. The Raiders worked it in to Quinter, who hit a short jumper to give the Raiders a 33-28 lead.
“We knew if we just slowed down and did what we do best, it would work out for us,” Quinter said.
Christian Brusman made two free throws to pull the Eagles within 33-30, but they didn’t score again until a 3 in the final minute.
Braylon Cordonnier made two free throws to push the gap to five, then Quinter made a steal, drove down court and went up for a two-handed dunk, which inexplicably bounced back out after going halfway down the net. Brayden Monnin had trailed on the fast break and made a put-back to push the lead to seven.
“We always try to get as many (players) back (on fast breaks), so in case something happens, we can (still have a chance to score),” Quinter said.
Russia rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Tigers 42-41 on Nov. 25 at Clair C. Naveau Gymnasium. Jackson Center (26-1) hasn’t lost since; the squad beat Russia 65-53 on its home court on Jan. 6.
“We’ll have to play better defense,” Quinter said. “We didn’t play defense well (on Jan. 6). We’ll have to move the ball on offense. That’s what makes us play well.”
Cordonnier finished with 15 points on Tuesday and had four rebounds. Quinter had three rebounds and three steals.
Quinter led the squad with 31 points in a 72-46 win over Troy Christian (23-4) on Dec. 17 in Russia.
“Hayden and Braylon have led us in scoring all year, and I told them at halftime (today), we’re going to go to where we’ve gotten points this year,” Spencer Cordonnier said. “These guys don’t care who scores, they just want to win.
“I thought that we should try to get some easy ones in the paint, and Hayden was Hayden and was fantastic in the fourth quarter. He and Braylon knocked down 5-of-6 free throws in the fourth. And we got stops, and that was the biggest thing.”
Troy Christian junior guard Parker Penrod, who like Quinter was a first team Div. IV all-Southwest district selection, managed four points. He averaged over 17.
“We had length on him, and that gave him some problems,” Cordonnier said.
Russia shot 15 for 30 from the floor while the Eagles shot 11 for 29 (37.9 percent). The Raiders had a 21-15 rebounding edge.
Troy Christian junior forward Frank Rupnik, who is 6-6, scored nine points and had six rebounds for the Eagles. Brusman, a junior guard, finished with eight points. Alex Free, a junior guard, finished with nine.
Troy Christian scored the first basket of the game but didn’t make a field goal the rest of the first quarter. Russia scored the first basket of the second to push its lead to 17-5 and later led 20-7.
Troy Christian pulled within 23-17 late in the second before Cordonnier hit a buzzer-beater to push the gap to eight at halftime. He made the first basket of the third quarter, but the Raiders didn’t score again in the period.
Brusman made two free throws to cut the gap to 27-24 with about four minutes left. The Eagles drained the last three minutes off the clock in the quarter but missed a last-second shot.
Free made a basket early in the fourth to cut the gap to 27-26.
“They were putting good pressure on us, and we were trying to do too much with the ball, turning it over and giving them easy baskets,” Quinter said.
Quinter and the Raiders took over the rest of the way to earn a spot in Friday’s regional final. It’s the program’s first regional final berth since 2002.
“We can’t wait,” Quinter said.
Contact Bryant Billing at (937) 538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.
