PIQUA — On the shoulders of scrappy defense and an up-tempo offense, Fairlawn rolled over Triad 54-44 in Division 4 sectional boys basketball action.
“I thought it was a complete team effort tonight. We did a good job of pushing the ball in transition and the kids did a good job of executing the game plan. Our defense was the biggest thing tonight,” said Fairlawn coach Justin Tidwell.
In an upstart first quarter, both teams swapped punches. The Jets took flight in transition, producing multiple buckets in fast-break fashion. Fairlawn scored the opening bucket of the night on a hoop by Kody Curtner. The grab-and-go approach by the Jets set the tone for the rest of the night.
Triad grabbed their first lead of the night (8-7) on a basket by Ryan Boyd. The Jets knotted things back up at 11 when Nathan Lessing scored, and regained the lead (13-11) on a nifty turnaround jumper by Luke Hickman.
Like a headache that simply won’t go away, the Cardinals regained the lead on a triple by Boyd to open the second quarter. The Jets got key buckets down the stretch of the first half including a scrappy steal and hoop by Aaron Hammond and an offensive putback by Lessing to send the Jets into the locker room with a 27-24 lead.
The Jets came out with some hop in their step to start the third quarter. Fairlawn constructed a 33-24 lead on the shoulders of a 6-0 spurt. A pair of free throws by Drew Brautigam got things going. Nick Brautigam’s floater in the lane rolled around the rim and through the hoop for another score and a bucket by Aaron Hammond pushed the pad to nine.
“We came in at halftime and made some adjustments to what they were doing and the kids did a good job of executing the adjustments,” said Tidwell.
Junior Nathan Lessing led the Jets with 18 points and was joined in double figures by Kody Curtner with a dozen and Hickman with 10.
“We have played well the last four games and it’s just a team effort,” concluded Tidwell.
Fairlawn (54) — Lessing 18, N. Brautigam 2, Curtner 12, Hammond 7, Hickman 10, D. Brautigam 5.
Triad (44) — Boys 12, LeVan 11, Morton 5, Watson 8, O’Neal 6, Ober 2.
Score by quarters:
Fairlawn`15`27`39`54
Triad`13`24`31`44
Three-pointers: Fairlawn 1 (Curtner); Triad 5 (Boyd 2, LeVan 2, Morton).
Records: Fairlawn 16-7, Triad 17-7.
Fairlawn’s next game: Saturday, sectional finals at Piqua, 7 p.m. vs. Jackson Center.
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Jackson 55, Covington 31
Too big, too fast, and too strong for the game to end any other way, Jackson Center rolled to a 55-31 victory over Covington in the second D-4 semifinal Wednesday.
In textbook fashion the Tigers schooled the Buccs from start-to-finish. It was never in doubt. Jackson controlled the tempo on offense and clamped down on defense.
Jackson Center came out on fire and never cooled off. The Tigers opened up the game with an 8-0 run. Drew Sosby, who had a monster game, ignited the Tiger spurt by burying a pair of triples to start the contest. The opening surge was capped off following some nifty ball movement by the Tigers and an up-and-under hoop by Ethan Zorn. The lead swelled to 15-4 late in the first following another bucket by Drew Sosby.
“I felt like we did a good job of setting the tone with our defense and that’s something we pride ourselves on and I thought Drew (Sosby) made some big plays early in the game. That’s what you expect of your senior leader and someone of his caliber,” said Jackson coach Scott Elchert.
The Tiger defense was on display in the second quarter. Jackson limited Covington to a single bucket in the period. The Tigers kept their foot on the pedal cruising to a 12-0 run to finish off the second quarter. The drive was ignited by a coast-to-coast grab and go rebound and score by Sosby. A triple by Zorn bumped the lead to 20-6. Things were capped off just before halftime after Sosby delivered a dandy pass down low to Brady Wildermuth who converted an old fashion three-point play as the Tiger lead was 27-6 heading into the lockerroom.
“We went through a three or four minute stretch where we didn’t do anything offensively and we were literally spinning our wheels but the good thing was we continued to ‘D’ up during that stretch and we got a couple quick buckets to get us back on track,” explained Elchert.
The Tigers placed three players in double figures. Sosby poured in 27 points including five three pointers. Wildermuth tallied 16 points and Ethan Zorn finished with 12.
“All three scoring on the same night makes us so much better as a team, and Brady did well because I felt he was a heavy part of their defensive game plan. We feel like we have enough other weapons where we can take advantage of it,” said Elchert.
Covington (31) — Pond 3, Maschino 8, Miller 5, Blei 7, Atkinson 2, Lefeld 3, Parett 3.
Jackson Center (55) — D. Sosby 27, Zorn 12, Wildermuth 16.
Score by quarters:
Covington`4`16`20`31
Jackson`15`27`42`55
Three-pointers: JC 6 (D. Sosby 5, Zorn); Covington 3 (Pond, Miller, Blei).
Records: JC 20-4, Covington 10-14.
JC’s next game: Saturday, sectional finals at Piqua, 7 p.m. vs. Fairlawn.
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Anna 85, FM 38
CLAYTON — The Anna Rockets rolled to an easy 85-38 victory over Franklin Monroe in the Division 3 Sectional semifinals Wednesday night.
The win puts Anna at 17-7 on the season and advances the Rockets to the sectional championship Saturday at 6:30 at Northmont. They will take on the No. 1 seed, 22-2 Dayton Northridge, with the winner advancing to the district finals.
The Rockets led 18-6 after a quarter, then exploded for a 30-point second period to put the game away at the half at 48-20.
Anna finished with 11 thr4ee-pointers, including three each by Kain Luthman and Blake Stephens. Luthman went for 27 points to lead the Rockets, Stephens had 15 and Carter uelskamp finished with 13.
Anna (85) — Frilling 2, Bensman 7, Huelskamp 13, Doseck 2, Platfoot 2, Cathcart 5, Luthman 27, Stephens 15, Flesher 7, Meyer 5.
FM (38) — Ressler 4, M. Conley 6, Peters 1, Hyre 10, Hesler 15, E. Conley 2.
Score by quarters:
Anna`18`48`66`85
FM`6`20`31`38
Three-pointers: Anna 11 (Luthman 3, Steophens 3, Bensman 2, Huelskamp 2, Meyer); FM 5 (Hesler 3, Hyre 2).
Records: Anna 17-7, FM 10-14.
Anna’s next game: Saturday, sectional finals at Northmont, 6:30 vs. Northridge (22-2).
