Staff report
SIDNEY — First-year Lehman coach Tim Gleason will look at his record after Saturday and see the loss total is up by one. But he’ll tell you that’s just a number — he certainly doesn’t think his Cavaliers were losers in their annual battle with the Sidney Yellow Jackets.
Lehman was coming off a 40-point loss a night earlier to Lima Perry, and was without its leading scorer, Dylan Arnold, who suffered a concussion is a violent collision during Friday’s game. But despite that, the Cavaliers made the talented Jackets work hard to pull out a 74-61 victory in a game where the verdict was still very much in doubt well into the second half.
Sidney capped a good weekend with the win, having beaten Troy at home Friday. The Jackets are now 10-4 heading into one of their biggest challenges of the season Friday night at Greenville in league play.
The Cavs, meanwhile, are 2-12 and are on the road twice this weekend, Friday at Upper Scioto Valley in league play and Saturday at backyard rival Anna.
“I know we lost, but I don’t feel like it was a loss,” said Gleason, who started three sophomores against the Jackets. “The kids played great, and I couldn’t be prouder of the effort. We made smart decisions, hit big shots, and shared the ball well… everything a coach could ask for. We didn’t have Dylan, but other kids stepped up in his place. Preston Rodgers was playing only his second game, but had a real nice floor game for us.”
The Cavaliers led 14-13 after a quarter before the Jackets exploded for 27 points in the second period for a 39-32 lead. And all that happened for Sidney without a point from senior sharpshooter Cameron Gallimore, who was held scoreless. He would make up for that in the second half with four three-pointers.
“Kudos to Lehman’s kids,” said Sidney coach Andy Slaughter. “I told coach Gleason after the game that if his kids play like that from now on, they’re going to win a lot of games. I felt like we came into the game thinking everything was going to go our way. We tried to get the kids to understand that in a rivalry game like that, the records don’t matter. We talked about that during our shootaround Saturday morning, and again before the game.
“We have to go into every game like we did at Trotwood,” he added. “But we didn’t come out as prepared Saturday night as we should have. But that being said, I thought the kids did a good job of getting a victory. We had to play through some adversity. I think at one point in the first half, we had six guys with two fouls. But we’re up seven at the half without Gallimore scoring, so that shows you how other guys stepped up.
“Devon Rogers really had a good game, and so did Darryl McNeal,” he went on. “Ratez Roberts came in and got a bucket and a couple of big rebounds, and Isaiah Bowser hit some big shots. I thought Allec Gordon and Andre Gordon both played good games, and Gally (Gallimore) had a big second half.”
The Jackets outscored the Cavs by four in the third quarter, but the lead was still just 11 going to the final period. In that quarter, three-pointers rained down. Bowser and Gallimore had two apiece for Sidney, and Kameron Lee two and Ben Frantz one for the Cavaliers.
Lehman was dialed in from long range, hitting 9 for 18 for the game. Lee finished with four of those nine and Frantz three.
Frantz led the Cavaliers with 19. Not only did he hit three threes, he was an impressive 8 for 8 from the free throw line. Lee added 14 points and Stephen Monnin finished with 10.
For the Jackets, Andre Gordon had 16, Rogers 13 and Gallimore 12. Bowser and McNeal both had nine and Lorenzo Taborn added eight. Andre Gordon was 6 for 8 from the line.
“I’m real pleased with the progress the team has made,” said Gleason. This was a monumental challenge this weekend. And we held our own against a team we were overmatched against athletically.”
Sidney (74) — Bowser 9, McNeal 9, Gallimore 12, Taborn 8, An. Gordon 15. Al. Gordon 5, Rogers 13, Roberts 2.
Lehman (61) — Schutt 7, Rourke 2, Monnin 10, Rodgers 3, Lee 14, Frantz 19, Curtis 2, Bunker 4.
Score by quarters:
Sidney—12 39 53 74
Lehman—14 32 42 61
Three-pointers: Sidney 8 (Gallimore 4, Bowser 2, Taborn, Al. Gordon); Lehman 9 (Lee 4, Frantz 3, Rodgers, Schutt).
Records: Sidney 10-4, Lehman 2-11.
Reserve score: Sidney 50, Lehman 16.
Freshman score: Sidney 51, Lehman 43.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
