CASSTOWN — Russia’s balance can be understood by one glance at their scoring leaders: five players are averaging between eight and 12 points.

That depth is part of the reason why Russia is the top-ranked team in the state Associated Press Division IV poll and why the squad is 14-0.

The Raiders’ most recent victory came Saturday at Miami East. They took control in the first quarter and cruised from there to a 65-44 win, which was their 11th by a margin of 20 or more.

“As a team, we don’t care who scores,” Russia senior guard Hayden Quinter said. “We just want to play and win to the best of our abilities.

“… I think it’s why we’re a really special group. None of us our selfish. We all like distributing the ball. As long as we come out with a win, that’s all that matters to us.”

Quinter led the squad with an average of about 14 points per game last season. He isn’t scoring as much this year, but he’s directing the balanced effort well as the team’s point guard; he averages about three assists per game.

His selflessness was on display in the third quarter. After missing a potential dunk on a fast break, fellow senior guard Brayden Monnin raced down the lane, grabbed the rebound over Miami East players, made a shot off the glass and drew a foul.

Quinter raced to help pick Monnin off the floor after the foul and congratulated him on the athletic put-back.

“We practice them, and Coach is always hounding on us to make sure we get back as fast as we can (on fast breaks) in case something like that happens,” Quinter said.

Junior forward Benjamin York led Russia with 15 points on Saturday. Monnin finished with 12, Braylon Cordonnier added 11 and Jaxon Grogean scored 10.

Russia built a 25-14 lead by the end of the first quarter, thanks in part to Grogean scoring eight points.

“We always want to get off to a good start and try to get the tempo in our pace,” Russia coach Spencer Cordonnier said. “We did that early on. We hit the open guy, and we were fortunate to knock down shots early. It’s all about finding the open man with us and making that extra pass.

“Sometimes, we do make too many passes, as you saw. We played a little sloppy at times than what we would like. But on the road on a Saturday night when it’s 0 degrees out, we’ll take it.”

The Raiders were slower to score in the second and played to a 7-7 tie with the Vikings, but they finished with a 16-7 advantage in the third and 17-16 advantage in the fourth.

“We just weren’t moving the ball on offense,” Quinter said of the slower second quarter. “We were trying to expose some mismatches, force it inside and just standing around and not moving the ball. …Moving the basketball, we are just so much better when we do that. If the ball’s sticking, we aren’t at our peak performance.”

Russia averages about 14 steals per game and forced Miami East (8-6) into many turnovers in the second half, which helped the squad pull away.

“We want to make it a full-court game all night, and we feel like if we do that, we’re well-conditioned enough to be able to wear the other team down,” Cordonnier said. “It’s not fun having someone two feet away from you all night long. Our guys will attest to that too when people press us. They don’t like it either.

“As long as we stay healthy and continue to put pressure on people, we’re going to be all right.”

Miami East senior guard Jacob Roeth led the squad with 19 points; he ranks second among Three Rivers Conference players in scoring.

“We knew coming over here it wasn’t going to be easy,” Cordonnier said. “Which is exactly what we want this time of year. If we’re going to play the Miami Easts in the nonleague, you want a fight. And that’s what we got. They’re well-coached and have some nice basketball players and some shooters.”

The Raiders are scheduled to host Houston on Tuesday for a league game and neighboring rival Versailles on Saturday for a nonconference matchup.

“These kids really have accepted one game at a time,” Cordonnier said. “… Tomorrow, we’ll start getting ready for Houston. That’s what they are about.”

Sidney’s Steele, Spradling lead MVL players

Sidney junior guards A’Zon Steele and Julius Spradling are the top two players in the Miami Valley League in scoring and rank highly in several categories.

They helped Sidney keep its winning streak going on Friday while ending the longest winning streak of any MVL team.

The Yellow Jackets led most of Friday’s matchup with Stebbins and pulled away in the second half to a 55-39 victory. It’s their fifth consecutive win, and it snapped a nine-game winning streak by the Indians.

Sidney junior guard Julius Spradling scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to help the squad pull away. Most of his points came on fast breaks or drives, and Sidney coach John Willoughby said his ability to steal helps.

“For the past two years, he was a good on-the-ball defender, and he still is,” Willoughby said. “Now he’s reading the other players. He sees that a lot of the guys like to do a little spin in the lane, and he gets the spin moves all the time.”

Spradling averages about two steals per game and is ranked seventh among MVL players in steals. He ranks fourth in assists with an average of 3.1 per game and ranks ninth with an average of 6.1 rebounds.

Steele averages an MVL-best 17.2 points per game while Spradling ranks second with an average of 15.5. Steele also ranks in the top 10 among MVL players in assists (2.5) and in the top 15 in steals (1.7).

Stebbins hadn’t lost since Sidney won the first matchup between the two squads 60-49 on Dec. 12 in Riverside. Among the Indians’ nine consecutive victories was a three-point win over Tippecanoe; that is still the Red Devils’ lone league loss.

Steele finished with 14 points, including four free throws in the fourth quarter. Junior guard Ethan New added seven.

Willoughby credited Steele for helping propel the team in the first half, and he credited New for rebounding well.

“Ethan got a lot of key rebounds, and he gives us that toughness on loose balls or tough rebounds,” Willoughby said.

He also credited New and senior forward Mitchell Davis for containing Stebbins senior forward Bryson Bishop. Bishop, who is 6-foot-5, averages 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds. He managed 10 points.

“He’s been hitting 3s recently, going out and shooting on the perimeter,” Willoughby said of Bishop. “Ethan and Mitchell did a great job on him.”

It was a big win for Sidney to stay in the MVL Valley Division race. The Yellow Jackets (10-5, 8-4) trail Stebbins (10-4, 9-3) by one game in divisional standings. Tipp (11-2, 11-1) leads the overall MVL race.

Sidney is scheduled to travel to West Carrollton (5-8, 5-5) on Tuesday and Fairborn (7-6, 6-5) on Friday.

Anna wins a close one

Anna has lost four games by a one-point margin but earned a close win in Shelby County Athletic League play on Friday.

The Rockets beat Jackson Center on the road 42-40 in double overtime.

The squads were tied 38-38 at the end of regulation, and neither scored in the first overtime. Evan Myers made a basket in the final seconds; Alex Shappie also split two pairs of free throws in double overtime.

Trey Heitkamp led Anna with 16 points. Mason Carey added 10 and Myers finished with eight.

The Rockets (7-7, 5-3) are scheduled to host Fairlawn on Tuesday and travel to Houston on Friday.

Fort Loramie struggles continue against Botkins

Botkins dominated the Redskins in an SCAL game on Friday and won 56-12.

It’s the third time Fort Loramie has failed to reach 20 points this year. Before this season, Fort Loramie hadn’t scored less than 20 points in any game since at least 1999, the farthest back year-by-year results go back on SCALSports.com.

Fort Loramie faired better on Saturday, losing 44-35 to rival Minster, which has won three in a row.

Botkins picks up two wins

Botkins won twice this weekend. Aside from Friday’s lopsided SCAL victory over Fort Loramie, the Trojans beat New Bremen 47-42 on Saturday to improve to 11-3 overall.

Collin Doseck led the squad with 19 points on Friday and JJ Meyer added nine. Doseck scored a team-high 14 on Saturday while Jordan Herzog added 11 and Meyer added 10.

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