TROY — Botkins pulled away in the fourth quarter and beat Triad 60-26 in a Division IV sectional final on Wednesday at Troy High School’s Trojan Activities Center.

But coach Phil Groves said the Trojans (18-6) can’t start as slow as they did Wednesday when they play in a district semifinal against Lehman Catholic (17-6) on Saturday in Troy.

“We stood around and camped out on the 3-point line way too much tonight, waiting to shoot a 3 instead of attacking gaps,” Groves said. “We’ve got to make cuts and aggressive drives to the basket when the gaps are there. Defensively, we need to come with the intensity we had in the second half the entire game.”

Botkins, the Dayton D-IV sectional’s No. 4 seed, will face No. 7 Lehman in a tournament game for the second consecutive season. The Trojans beat Lehman 35-32 in a sectional final last year on a buzzer-beater.

“They’re a great team. They have good guard play, and they have great bigs,” Groves said. “We’re going to have to come and play our best game of the year.”

The Trojans and the Cardinals were tied 13-13 in the second quarter, but Botkins finished on an 8-2 run to take a 21-15 halftime lead. Botkins pushed its advantage to 15 in the third before Triad cut the gap to 36-26 heading into the fourth.

But the Trojans held the Cardinals scoreless in the fourth quarter and scored 24 points to run away.

“I think we came out tonight and went through the motions to start,” Groves said. “I thought we came out and played much better in the second half. But early on, we just didn’t play with the intensity that we finished the game with. I’m glad we found that intensity. I’d just like to find it earlier in the game.”

Collin Doseck, a senior guard who was named first team all-Shelby County Athletic League last week, finished with 18 points. Jordan Herzog scored 11, Russell Lenhart scored 10 and Noah Topp added nine.

Both Botkins’ boys and girls teams posed for a photo on the court after the game. The girls team beat SCAL rival Jackson Center 36-33 in overtime in a district semifinal at Versailles High School, then came to Troy to watch the boys game.

Botkins will face Russia in a Div. IV girls district final at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in Troy. The boys squad will face Lehman at 6 p.m. in a district semifinal in Troy.

DIVISION IV DISTRICT SEMIFINAL

What: Botkins vs. Lehman Catholic

Where: Troy High School

When: 6 p.m., Saturday

Radio: ScoresBroadcast.com

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