RUSSIA — Russia won its first 10 games a year ago and is halfway to matching that start this season.

The Raiders have 10 players back who were on the bench at University of Dayton Arena last March and are rolling to start this season. They beat Minster 64-34 on Saturday, which was their fourth straight win by 28 or more points.

Among the returnees are senior guards Hayden Quinter and Brayden Monnin, who are four-year varsity players. Junior forward Braylon Cordonnier is in his third year on varsity.

Senior forward Felix Francis, junior forward Benjamin York and junior guard Vince Borchers are also multiple-year varsity players.

Guards Landon Pleiman and Jaxon Grogean and forwards Zeb Schulze and Dominic Francis were brought up to be on the bench during tournament play last year.

With so much experience and depth, the Raiders are able to play at a pace few opponents can keep up with.

Saturday was another example. Russia led 17-9 by the end of the first quarter and was ahead by 12 going into the fourth before finishing with a 20-2 run.

“It’s what this team is about,” Russia coach Spencer Cordonnier, who is in the second year of his second stint as the team’s coach, said. “You don’t know who’s going to hot night in and night out. That’s what makes us tough to guard.”

The fast pace can lead to some turnovers, but more often than not, Russia is able to make up for it on the defensive end.

“When you play that way, try to control the boards and get out and go, you’re going to turn the ball over some, but we’re doing a good job of keeping it around 10 or 12,” Cordonnier said. “… These kids, they battle. They love playing the game.

“… We wanted to get up and force the dribble tonight. They have a couple of kids who can really shoot it. … We did a good of ball hawking. We had a lot of blocked shots, too.”

Braylon Cordonnier, who is Spencer’s son, led the squad with 16 points. York finished with 12 and Francis finished with 10. All three are among five players on the roster who are 6-4 or taller.

Russia (5-0) outrebounded Minster 36-26 and had eight blocked shots.

“Felix came into his own late last year,” Cordonnier said. “He hasn’t been 6-5 for very long; within the last year and a half he’s went from 6-2, 6-3 to now probably about 6-6.

“We thought we could go into Felix and Braylon tonight and score, and we got it down in there. Those two are tough. Felix controlled the glass at both ends of the floor.”

Quinter has led a balanced scoring effort the last two years. Cordonnier said he’s doing well this year directing things at point guard.

“This was probably the best floor game I’ve seen him play,” Cordonnier said. “He didn’t score very much tonight, but he was really, really good.”

The Raiders are scheduled to host Anna in a Shelby County Athletic League game on Friday. They will then play in the WPTW Holiday Classic next week at Piqua, with their first game against Troy Christian at 6 p.m. on Dec. 28.

The Eagles and Russia met in a regional semifinal last year, which Russia won 41-33. Troy Christian was 3-0 heading into a game at Miami East on Tuesday night.

“We’ve got a big game against Anna, and it really is one game at a time,” Cordonnier said. “I know it’s kind of cliché, but that’s how it is. …Our guys take it one game at a time, we take it one game at a time. It’s the next opponent, and every game is a big game.”

Anna suffers first loss

Anna’s undefeated start came to an end in a 61-49 loss on Saturday at Indian Lake.

The Rockets opened the season on Dec. 2 with a 53-48 win over New Knoxville, then beat Fairlawn 59-38 last Tuesday and Houston 64-23 on Friday.

Four players scored in double figures in Friday’s win. Jacob Feroze led the squad with 15 points while Alex Shappie, Brady Wenning and Trey Heitkamp each scored 10.

The Lakers used a 16-8 scoring edge in the second quarter on Saturday to take a 28-24 halftime lead and pulled away with a 20-11 advantage in the fourth.

Indian Lake senior guard Caiden Nicol scored 21 points and brought down 11 rebounds. Heitkamp led Anna with 19 and Mason Carey added 10.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.