Staff report
PIQUA — The Fort Loramie Redskins finished the regular season strong, and it was apparent Friday night in tournament play that they couldn’t wait to get back on the court.
The Redskins set a new school record for made three-pointers in rolling to a 75-50 rout of Mechanicsburg in Division 4 Sectional boys basketball play Friday night at Piqua High School.
The win was the fifth in the last six games for coach Corey Britton’s squad and puts them at 11-12 on the year heading into the sectional semifinals Tuesday night at 7:30 (second game) against either Houston or Mississinawa Valley, who played the late game Friday.
“Mechanicsburg played us man-to-man but we got the tempo where we wanted, and found the shots,” said Britton. “The kids did a great job of getting their feet set and shooting with confidence.”
The Redskins tied the school record for threes by the half, hitting 10 for 13. They finished the game hitting 13 three-pointers in just 21 attempts, a staggering 62 percent from beyond the arc. And they were impressive sharing the ball — they had 21 assists on 28 made baskets.
Dillon Braun, just a sophomore, put on a show, draining six three-pointerrs on his way to 26 points for the Redskins. Tanner Rosengarten and Cody Gasson added 13 points each and each had three three-pointers.
Tyler Siegel, Loramie’s big man inside, just missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds, and guard Drew Wehrman handed out five assists.
Fort Loramie (75) — Wehrman 2, Rosengarten 13, Braun 26, Pleiman 4, Gasson 13, Brackman 1, Siegel 9, Eilerman 4, Mescher 3.
Mechanicsburg (50) —Harvey 2, Cushman 16, Warren 3, Butsch 7, Taylor 2, McMannis 2, Butcher 4, Welch 12, Miller 2.
Score by quarters:
Loramie—21 49 70 75
Mech’burg—8 23 38 50
Three-pointers: FL 13 (new school record) (Braun 6, Rosengarten 3, Gasson 3, Mescher); Mechanicsburg 2 (Cushman, Warren).
Records: Loramie 11-12, Mechanicsburg 6-17.
Loramie’s next game: Tuesday, sectional semifinals at Piqua at 7:30 vs. Houston-Mississinawa winner.
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Russia 69, Bradford 32
PIQUA — The Bradford Railroaders hung with No. 2-seeded Russia for about a half, but when the Raiders went on an 11-0 run to start the third quarter, it quickly turned into a rout in Division 4 Sectional basketball action at Piqua High School Friday night.
Russia rolled to a 69-32 win over the Railroaders to advance to the sectional semifinals Tuesday at 6 p.m. against the Lehman Cavaliers, who had a first-round bye. Russia takes a 20-3 record into that game.
The Raiders led 14-6 after one quarter and it increased to 14 at the half at 32-18. Then in the third quarter, the Raiders scored the first 11 points, including an alley-oop dunk by Josh York, to go up 43-18.
“We put a lot of pressure on them,” said Spencer Cordonnier, Russia’s first-year head coach.
Russia put 13 players into the scoring column, led by York with 13. Cole Tebbe added 12 points and Jack Dapore finished with 10.
Bradford (32) — A. Branson 11, Swabb 10, W. Branson 5, Patty 6.
Russia (69) — Counts 7, C. Monnin 3, T. Monnin 4, Cordonnier 4, Gariety 2, Poling 1, Ball 5, Tebbe 12, Cook 2, Busse 2, Borchers 4, York 13, Dapore 10.
Score by quarters:
Bradford—6 18 24 32
Russia—14 32 52 69
Three-pointers: Bradford 2 (Swabb, W. Branson); Russia 4 (Dapore 2, Counts, C. Monnin).
Records: Russia 20-3, Bradford 2-21.
Russia’s next game: Tuesday, sectional semifinals at Piqua at 6 p.m. vs. Lehman.
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Mississinawa 54, Houston 36
Houston dropped its tournament opener Friday night in D-4 action at Piqua, losing to Mississinawa for the second time this season. The final was 54-36.
The loss ended Houston’s season at 8-15. Mississinawa advances to play Fort Loramie and is now 16-7.
Zach Freytag had 14 and Domyneik Phipps 10 for Houston.
