Staff report
PIQUA — Both the Russia and Lehman Catholic boys basketball teams came in with a plan in the Green bracket championship game of the Buckeye Insurance Group Holiday Classic at Piqua Wednesday night.
Russia’s 70-36 win for its third straight BIG Classic title gives a pretty good indication on how things went for both teams.
“We sat down and talked with the kids this morning,” Russia coach Spencer Cordonnier said after the Raiders had defeated Covington 71-64 in the opening round. “Give Covington credit. They played hard for 32 minutes in that game — and we didn’t. We talked about coming out and playing hard for 32 minutes and not relaxing once we got up. And we did that.”
Lehman coach Tim Gleason knew how crucial rebounding was going to be for his team.
“Russia is a great rebounding team,” Gleason said. “We talked about how they were going to come out and try and crash the glass with their size. We prepared for that. We worked on it. We knew we had to box them out. We just didn’t do it.”
Russia got rolling early and never let up. The Raiders led 23-7, 48-17 and 68-27 at the quarter breaks.
“We were able to have success inside early,” Cordonnier said. “And we had a pretty good inside-out game going.”
Tournament MVP Cole Tebbe scored 13 points in the opening half, while Josh York added 10.
“We just got in too big a hole,” Gleason said. “We got into foul trouble early. That stopped us from being able to pressure and make it a game of transition like we wanted.”
York had 18 points and seven rebounds for Russia, while Tebbe added 15 points.
Kameron Lee led Lehman with 10 points.
“It was good to get on the floor where we are going to play in the tournament,” Gleason said. “To get that experience is a good thing.”
Russia was 25 of 56 from the floor and 14 of 27 from the line, while Lehman, 2-5, was 13 of 31 from the floor and seven of 10 from the line.
Russia, 8-1, won the battle of the boards 33-21 and had 18 turnovers to Lehman’s 27.
The Raiders won the traveling trophy for the third straight time.
“I know we like the fact we get a chance to get on the floor we are going to play in the tournament on,” Cordonnier said. “We like getting two games in and getting a feel for the gym. I was really pleased with the way we came out focused tonight.”
Russia (70) — Counts 7, C. Monnin 5, T. Monnin 4. Cordonnier 7. Gariety 4, Ball 2, Tebbe 15, York 18, Dapore 8.
Lehman (36) — Scott 1, Shult 4, Rourke 2, Smith 6, Monnin 3, Arnold 3, Lee 10, Conte 4, Barker 3.
Score by quarters:
Russia—23 48 68 70
Lehman—7 17 27 36
Three-pointers: Russia 6 (Counts 2, Dapore 2, C. Monnin, Cordonnier); Lehman 3 (Lee 2, Arnold)
Records: Russia 8-2, Lehman 2-5.
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Fairlawn 74, Hardin Nor. 55
ROCKFORD — The Fairlawn Jets brought home the championship of the Parkway Holiday Tournament Wednesday night, whipping Hardin Northern in the final game 74-55 in boys basketball action.
The Jets up their record on the year to 7-4 after their third straight win, and are off until Jan. 8 when they face the Russia Raiders.
“It was nice to go up there and face two quality teams and get two wins,” said Fairlawn coach Justin Tidwell. “We got excellent play out of our guards and they had trouble with that.”
Junior standout Nathan Lessing continued his impressive scoring, pouring in 37 points. That followed up a 31-point performance in the semifinal win over Delphos Jefferson, and he also added nine rebounds.
Needless to say, Lessing was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Luke Hickman finished with 12 points for the Jets and was also named to the all-tournament team.
Fairlawn (74) — Lessing 37, N. Brautigam 8, Kurtner 7, Hammond 6, Hickman 12, D. Brautigam 4.
Hardin No. (55) — Drumm 15, Wilhelm 14, Poling 13, Bame 7, Obenour 6.
Score by quarters:
Fairlawn—23 38 56 74
Northern—14 29 44 55
Three-pointers: Fairlawn 3 (Lessing, Kurtner, Hickman); Northern 3 (Wilhelm 2, Poling).
Records: Fairlawn 7-4, Northern 2-6.
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Van Wert 51, Minster 47
VAN WERT — Minster had a rough second quarter and couldn’t quite recover in losing 51-47 to Van Wert in non-league boys basketball action Wednesday night.
The loss left the Wildcats at 3-5 on the season. Van Wert is 1-6.
Minster led 13-11 after one quarter but was outscored 18-11 in the second period and by two in the third to trail 40-35 heading to the final period.
Jacob Stechschulte had nearly half his team’s points, finishing with 21, including nine in the opening frame. He was 9-for-15 from the field and hit all three of his three-point shots. Bryce Schmiesing added 11 points.
Minster was 19 for 53 from the field for 36 percent compared to 17 for 35 for Van Wert, 49 percent.
Minster (47) — Schmiesing 11, Stechschulte 21, Falk 4, Nixon 3, Thobe 4, Huelsman 4.
Van Wert (51) — Kelly 8, Smith 19, Braun 13, McCracken 6, Lautzenheiser 3, Munroe 2,
Score by quarters:
Minster—13 24 35 47
Van Wert — 11 29 42 51
Three-pointers: Minster 5 (Stechschulte 3, Schmiesing, Nixon); Van Wert 0.
Records: Minster 3-5, VW 1-6.
Reserve score: Minster 53, VW 41.
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Chaminade 69, Versailles 66
VERSAILLES — Versailles was unable to keep its record perfect in its own holiday tournament, losing 69-66 in a championship thriller Wednesday night to Chaminade-Julienne.
The Tigers are now 8-2 on the year and Chaminade 9-1. The Tigers are back in action Friday at home against St. Henry.
The Tigers took a one-point lead with under 30 seconds remaining but the Eagles were able to respond.
Justin Ahrens poured in 26 for the Tigers and Brett McEldowney added 16.
Chaminade (69) — Montague 11, Joiner 17, Young 6, Freeman 2, Watkins 8, Boykin 12, Barnes 2, Gage 11.
Versailles (66) — Knapke 9, K. McEldowney 4, Wendel 9. J. Ahrens 26, B. McEldowney 16, Custenborder 2.
Score by quarters:
Chaminade—20 32 49 69
Versailles—14 27 47 66
Three-pointers: Chaminade 8 (Gage 3, Boykins 3, Young 2); Versailles 6 (Ahrens 4, Wendel, McEldowney).
Records: Versailles 8-1, Chaminade 9-1.
