SIDNEY — Russia struggled in the first half of the season but has played strong in the second half.

The Raiders kept their season going on Monday by beating a team they lost to in the first half: Covington.

Russia beat the Buccaneers 50-35 in a Division IV district semifinal on Monday at Sidney High School to advance to a district final for a second consecutive year.

“It’s exciting,” junior guard Addison Shappie said. “We all played together and worked hard to get to this point.

Few would have picked Russia (14-10) to earn a district final berth at the beginning of the year. The squad lost eight seniors from a 22-5 campaign a year ago, and senior forward Roni Poling was its only returnee.

But its varsity newcomers have improved throughout the year, and the squad has become battle-hardened after a tough regular-season slate.

“We’ve started to play together more, and we rely on each other,” Shappie said. “If one person doesn’t have a good game, another person picks them up.

“… It was definitely an adjustment for all of us, but I think that we did well from the beginning of the season to the end.”

Russia, which is the Dayton D-IV sectional’s No. 7 seed, lost 44-37 to No. 3 Covington on Dec. 11. The teams battled in the first half, but Covington hit a few 3-pointers to power a 14-0 run in the third quarter and led the rest of the way.

“We were really well-prepared today,” Russia first-year coach Mike Bashore said. “Defensively, it was a phenomenal effort. They were 1-for-13 from the 3-point range. That’s something they killed us on the first time.

“I can’t say enough about how hard my staff and the girls did preparing for this game. We started preparing for them before we played our first (tournament) game, because we really wanted to win a sectional title.

“I’ve said it a thousand times, I have the best group of girls anybody could ever ask for.”

Russia led from the start on Monday. Covington scored the last four points of the first quarter to pull within 14-10, but Russia used a 12-6 scoring edge in the second to take a 26-16 halftime lead. The Raiders outscored the Buccaneers 12-11 in the third and 12-8 in the fourth.

Covington had two players named first team all-Three Rivers Conference in Maggie Anderson and Carlie Besecker. Anderson averaged 5.8 rebounds per game, and Besecker averaged 7.6.

The Buccaneers unofficially finished with 14 rebounds on Monday.

“For us to do that to them is (special),” Bashore said. “They shoot a lot, but they crash the boards a lot. I’m just so proud of our girls.

“… It was a great effort from everyone. Even when we had some foul trouble, other girls stepped up when we needed them.”

Freshman guard Hazel Francis led Russia with 16 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Poling, who was named Shelby County Athletic League co-player of the year last week, scored 11. Freshman guard Celeste Borchers scored 10 and Shappie added nine.

Russia advances to face the winner of No. 6 Jackson Center vs. No. 10 Botkins at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Troy High School’s Trojan Activities Center. The Tigers and Trojans are scheduled to face off in a district semifinal on Wednesday at Versailles.

Russia split with Jackson Center in SCAL play in regular season and swept Botkins. The Raiders lost 41-30 at Jackson Center on Nov. 28 but won 56-42 on Jan. 9; they beat Botkins 41-27 on the road on Dec. 16 and 45-33 on their home court on Feb. 3.

“They both have very good shooters, and we’ll have to box them out,” Shappie said. “We’ll have to play good defense. We know they’ll play good defense, too. We’ll have to make sure we value every possession.”

Covington finishes with a 19-6 record. Anderson, a junior, led the squad with 13 points. Delaney Murphy scored 10 and Besecker, a senior, scored eight.

Fort Loramie 61, Lehman Catholic 12

Fort Loramie (23-2) earned its seventh consecutive district final berth by dominating the Cavaliers in the second semifinal of the night on Monday in Sidney.

It caps off another successful run in the first three rounds of postseason play for Fort Loramie in Sidney. The Redskins beat Twin Valley South 72-12 in their postseason opener and followed with a 74-13 win over Miami Valley.

“I think our defensive pressure was the difference in the game,” Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel said. “I like the depth of our team. I like how everybody plays together and cheers for each other. It’s been fun.”

The Redskins had 16 steals and forced over 30 turnovers.

“We knew coming out it was going to be tough,” Lehman second-year coach Chad Platfoot said. “We have a tendency to have a lot of turnovers anyway, and we knew if we could limit that, it could help us some, but they’re just a really good basketball team.”

Fort Loramie built a 24-4 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 38-8 at halftime and 52-10 at the end of the third.

“I always challenge my starters to set the tone early,” Siegel said. “I think in the first quarter, the starters and the first two or three girls off the bench did a nice job of harassing Lehman and frustrating them. I don’t think they ever got into a flow.”

Senior guard Skyler Albers led Fort Loramie with 14 points while junior forward Avery Brandewie, who was named SCAL co-player of the year last week, scored 10. Freshman Maddie Shatto added nine.

Shatto is one of several bench players who saw significant time on the floor at Sidney.

“She played a lot of JV to start, and we’ve been working her in,” Siegel said. “She gave us a lot of good things tonight. When you have a freshman contributing like that, it’s a great thing. She’s an added plus for us during our tournament run.”

Fort Loramie, the Dayton D-IV sectional’s No. 1 seed, advances to face the winner of Fayetteville-Perry vs. Middletown Christian in a district semifinal at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at Troy High School.

“There were some things that were sloppy tonight and some things I was not happy about,” Siegel said. “We just talked about that. We’ll be working on those the next few days.”

The Cavaliers finish 8-16 overall. They will lose three seniors to gradation: center Mara O’Leary, forward Aubri Karn and guard Taylor Geise. O’Leary, who averaged 11 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, was a second team all-Three Rivers Conference selection.

“They’re a great group,” Platfoot said. “The leadership they brought is great. From the athleticism from Mara to Taylor being able to score to Aubri being that glue girl, it’s going to be really tough to replace them.”

No. 12 seed Lehman beat No. 13 Tri-County North 55-40 last Wednesday in a sectional final to advance. It was the program’s first postseason win in 15 years.

“We accomplished that, so that’s a big thing for us to hang our hat on,” Platfoot said. “Eight wins for us, I feel, is a win, especially with the girls not coming into it until November, with volleyball and soccer. Hopefully our numbers keep going up, and we’ll go from there.”

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