PIQUA — Botkins rallied in the second half of a Division IV sectional opener on Friday at Piqua’s Garbry Gymnasium to earn a 63-45 victory over Bradford.
The No. 1 seed Trojans trailed the No. 11 seed Railroaders 8-2 early in the first quarter after baskets by Connor Jones and 3-pointers by Hudson Hill and Parker Davidson.
Bradford’s early offensive success continued. Botkins pulled within 11-9, but the Railroaders scored the last six points of the first quarter to take a 17-9 lead.
Davidson hit a 3 to give Bradford a 25-18 lead with 2:10 left, but the Trojans finished the quarter with a 7-2 edge to pull within 27-25 at halftime.
Botkins ran away quick in the second half, as it scored the first 21 points of the third quarter.
Jacob Pleiman led the Trojans (20-3) with 15 points, 10 of which came in the first half. Jameson Meyer scored 14 points, Jayden Priddy-Powell scored 12 and Zane Paul scored 10.
Botkins advances to face No. 13 seed Houston (1-20) in a sectional final on Tuesday. The Trojans won both SCAL matchups against the Wildcats in regular season by over 30 points.
Ansonia 54, Riverside 42
The Pirates lost in the first Div. IV sectional semifinal on Friday in Piqua.
Riverside built a 13-11 lead by the end of the first quarter, but the Tigers used a 14-8 scoring edge in the second to take a 25-21 lead by halftime.
Ansonia pushed its lead to 33-24 early in the third, but John Zumberger scored six straight points to bring Riverside within 34-30.
Reece Stammen hit a 3-pointer and Ethan Hemmerich made a basket to push Ansonia’s lead to 39-30. The Pirates scored the last four points of the third, but the Tigers finished the fourth with a 15-8 scoring edge to secure the win.
Zumberger led Riverside with 16 points while Landon Stewart scored 10 and brought down five rebounds. The squad shot 18 for 44 (40.9 percent) from the floor and was outrebounded 23-17.
The Pirates finish 7-16 overall. The squad will lose four seniors to graduation, including Zumberger.
REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS
• Boys basketball
Minster 48, Springfield Shawnee 36
The Wildcats won their regular-season finale on Friday in Minster.
Minster built a 13-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. Each squad scored 11 points in the second, but the Wildcats secured the win with an 11-4 scoring edge in the third and 13-12 edge in the fourth.
Justin Nixon led Minster (18-4) with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Bryan Falk scored 10 points and Johnny Nixon added eight. Eric Schmidt had eight rebounds and seven assists.
Minster shot 20 for 45 (44.4 percent) from the floor and had a 35-23 rebounding edge.
Fort Recovery 55, New Bremen 50
The Cardinals lost their final Midwest Athletic Conference game of the season on Friday in Fort Recovery.
New Bremen took a 17-13 lead by the end of the first quarter but the Indians used a 12-11 scoring edge in the second to pull within 28-25 at halftime. Fort Recovery took control with an 18-9 edge in the third.
Trevor Bergman led New Bremen (14-8, 6-3 MAC) with 11 points while Reece Busse scored 10 and brought down five rebounds. The squad shot 21 for 51 (37 percent) from the floor and was outrebounded 35-23.
With the loss, the Cardinals finish tied with Marion Local for third place in the MAC.
