Staff report
CLAYTON — A huge three-pointer with 20 seconds left by Joel Cathcart held up over the final tickets of the clock and enabled the Anna Rockets to avoid an upset in the first round of the Division 3 Sectional Boys Basketball Tournament Saturday night at Northmont High School.
The Rockets are the No. 7 seed and were taking on 13th seed Northwestern in the first round. Cathcart’s bucket gave them a 51-50 victory and advanced them to the semifinals Wednesday at 7:30 against 11th seed Franklin-Monroe.
“We didn’t execute well on offense against their man-to-man, and we missed a lot of chip shots inside,” said Anna head coach Nate Barhorst. “In the second half, we did much better and built up an 8-point lead with a couple of dunks by Kain Luthman. But then they switched to a zone and we struggled.”
The Rockets found themselves trailing 50-48 with the clock ticking down, but that’s when Cathcart drained his big three-pointer to bail his team out.
Blake Stephens was the only Anna player in double figures with 14, but the balance was there. Cathcart finished with nine and three others, including Nathan Frilling, Carter Huelskamp and Luthman, all added eight apiece.
Anna (51) — Frilling 8, Huelskamp 8, Cathcart 9, Luthman 8, Stephens 14, Flesher 4.
Northwestern (50) — Noffke 15, Randall 6, Clelenad 13, Brewer 4, Walterrs 8, Ullery 5.
Score by quarters:
Anna`12`22`34`51
NW`13`22`34`51
Three-pointers: Anna 3 (Cathcart 3); NW 4 (Nofke 2, Cleland).
Records: Anna 17-7, Nothwestern 9-14.
Anna’s next game: Tuesday, sectional semifinals at Northmont, 7:30 vs. Franklin-Monroe (10-12).
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Versailles 61, Arcanum 40
DAYTON — The Versailles Tigers advanced to the D-3 sectional semifinals at Dayton Belmont with a 61-40 win over fellow Darke County team Arcanum Saturday.
The Tigers are 17-6 on the year and will likely have little trouble in their next outing, Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Greeneview.
Versailles rolled to an 18-6 lead after a quarter and was never threatened by the Trojans.
Brett McEldowney scored 18 to lead the Tigers, Jared Niekamp added 11 and Justin Ahrens finished with 10.
Arcanum (40) — Kinney 4, Burns 9, Cole 7, Meeks 6, Atchley 4, Riffel 10.
Versailles (61) — Knapke 7, K. McEldowney 3, Wendel 5, J. Ahrens 10, B. McEldowney 18, Custenborder 1, Ahrens 6.
Score by quarters:
Arcanum`6`17`27`40
Versailles`18`31`45`61
Three-pointers: Versailles 6 (B. McEldowney 3, K.McEldowney, Knapke, Wendel); Arcanum 4 (Burns 3, Burrell).
Records: Versailles 17-6, Arcanum 6-17.
Versailles’ next game: Wednesday, sectional semifinals at Belmont, 6 p.m. vs. Greeneview (7-15).
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Division 4
Jackson Center 48, Ansonia 23
PIQUA — Top-seeded Jackson Center breezed through its first tournament outing, routing Ansonia 48-23 in first-round Division 4 sectional action at Piqua Saturday night.
The Tigers are now 19-4 and meet Covington Wednesday at 7:30 in the semifinals.
“We had a great defensive effort,” said JC head coach Scott Elchert. “When you can hold a team to single digits in three of the four quarters, you’re getting the job done.”
Jackson put it away early, sprinting to a 17-2 lead after one quarter. It was 28-6 at the half and 35-12 after three.
Drew Sosby had 12 and Brady Wildermuth 10 to lead the Tigers, who hit eight three-pointers in the game.
Ansonia (23) — Sink 7, Sanders 1, Muir 4, Wentworth 11.
Jackson Center (48) — Platfoot 5, Booser 4, D. Sosby 12, Zorn 6, B. Sosby 8, Wildermuth 10, Hickman 3.
Score by quarters:
Ansonia`2`6`12`23
Jackson`17`28`35`48
Three-pointers: Ansonia 3 (Wentworth 2, Sink); JC 8 (D. Sosby 2, Zorn 2, B. Sosby 2, Hickman, Platfoot).
Records: JC 19-4, Ansonia 4-19.
JC’s next game: Tuesday, sectional semifinals at Piqua, 7:30 vs. Covington.
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Covington 55, Botkins 46
PIQUA — Botkins saw its season come to an end Saturday night in a 55-46 loss to Covington in first-round action in the D-4 sectional at Piqua.
The Trojans finish the season 8-15. Covington advances to play top-seeded Jackson Center.
Covington took a five-point lead at the half at 21-16, but the Trojans came out strong in the third quarter and outscored the Buccs 19-11 to take a three-point lead into the final period.
But Covington erupted for 23 points in the last quarter, and used an 8-0 run to take a 42-40 lead. Botkins was not able to get the lead back.
Covington rallied back despite losing its top two scorers to five fouls in the final period. Trevor Miller and Jordan Maschino combined for 31 of the Covington points.
Botkins was just 14 for 42 from the field for 32 percent and misfired on all 11 of its three-point attempts. The Trojans made up some ground by getting to the line, hitting 18 of 25 free throws.
Chad Bergman led the Trojans with 19 points and Erik Greve added 15.
Botkins (46) — C. Bergman 19, E. Greve 15, Flora 7, N. Greve 3, Fullenkamp 2.
Covington (55) — Miller 19, Maschino 12, Blei 7, Sowers 7, Atkinson 6, Lefeld 2, Pond 2.
Score by quarters:
Botkins`7`16`35`46
Covington`10`21`32`55
Records: Botkins 8-15, Covington 10-13.
