PIQUA — Fort Loramie pulled away in the last 12 minutes and beat Troy Christian 72-57 in a Division IV sectional final on Tuesday at Piqua’s Garbry Gymnasium.
The No. 5 seed Redskins (13-10) advance to face No. 2 Jackson Center (18-6) in a district semifinal on Friday in Piqua. Fort Loramie beat the Tigers 39-36 and 45-21 in Shelby County Athletic League games in regular season.
No. 4 seed Troy Christian (18-6) opened the second half with a 6-2 run to take a 35-32 lead, but Fort Loramie finished with a 16-4 run to take a 48-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Redskins outscored Troy Christian 24-18 in the fourth to secure the win.
Fort Loramie got off to a great start storming out to a 21-12 lead, but a 3-pointer at the buzzer cut it to 21-15.
The Eagles outscored Fort Loramie by five in the second quarter to make it 30-29 heading into halftime.
Parker Penrod led Troy Christian with 19 points and had four assists and Free scored 10 points and added four steals.
Ty Ruhenkamp led Fort Loramie with 19 points. Caleb Maurer and Ethan Keiser both finished with 16 points and Logan Eilerman scored 13.
Jackson Center 41, Ansonia 29
Jackson Center rallied from a 26-25 deficit to avoid an upset loss and win a Div. IV sectional final on Tuesday in Piqua.
No. 9 Ansonia built a 5-4 lead by the end of the first quarter, but Jackson Center used a 15-6 scoring edge in the second to take a 19-11 halftime lead.
Ansonia used a 10-5 scoring edge in the third to pull within 24-21 heading into the fourth and took a 26-25 lead early in the final quarter, but the Tigers finished on a 16-3 run to earn the win.
Camdyn Reese led Jackson Center with 12 points.
