SIDNEY — Russia took control early and led the entire way on its way to a 65-54 road Shelby County Athletic League boys basketball win over Fairlawn on Monday.
The Raiders took a 16-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 31-25 at halftime. After a 14-14 tie in the third, Russia closed the game with a 20-15 scoring advantage in the fourth.
Daniel Kearns led Russia with 22 points while Mason Dapore scored 14 and Jordan York added 10.
Ashton Piper led Fairlawn with 24 points while Skyler Piper added 16.
“I thought we came out with great energy tonight and played hard,” Fairlawn coach Justin Tidwell said. “Give Russia credit though, they crash the boards hard and we struggled rebounding and handling their big guys inside. We did a better job executing our offense tonight and hopefully that continues the rest of this week.”
The game was originally scheduled for last Friday but was postponed to Monday.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Botkins 59, Lima Perry 23
Botkins made quick work of Lima Perry on its senior night on Monday.
The Trojans took a 17-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 28-14 at halftime of the home nonconference game. They then used a 19-5 scoring advantage in the third to close it out.
Boston Paul led Botkins with 11 points while Grace Homan scored 10 and Makenna Maurer added nine.
Houston 68, Mississinawa Valley 26
Houston took control early in a road nonconference game on Monday and cruised to a big win.
The Wildcats led 19-4, 35-12 and 58-17 at the quarter breaks.
Amber Stangel led Houston with 15 points. Jess Monnier scored 11 and Megan Maier and Mariah Booher each scored 10.
Riverside 37, Indian Lake 20
The Pirates took a 9-3 lead by the end of the first quarter and cruised to a big nonconference win over neighbor Indian Lake on Monday in De Graff.
Shelby Giles scored a game-high 10 points while Kalin Kreglow added eight points and 11 rebounds. Lauryn Sanford also scored eight points.
“My girls gave a gutsy performance tonight to come away with the tough win,” Riverside coach Bryce Hodge said. “Credit Indian Lake for the effort they gave. It was a tough local battle that was fun to be a part of.
“I sound like a broken record, but we have plenty of room for improvement and need to keep getting better as we prepare for postseason play. We had too many turnovers tonight and too many mental mistakes. Hopefully we can clean this up and start playing consistently well as a unit moving forward.”
