Staff report
COLUMBUS GROVE — Playing at Columbus Grove has not been an easy thing for the Jackson Center Tigers in recent years. But that all changed Saturday night when they came away with an impressive 49-28 victory in non-league boys basketball action.
The Tigers are now 2-0 and have an early-season showdown at Russia on Friday. Grove drops to 0-2.
The Tigers had to overcome adversity when 6-foot-6 standout Brady Wildermuth picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter and played only about six minutes the entire second half. But when Wildermuth went out, the Tigers were up 11, and with him on the bench, the lead ballooned to 20.
“Definitely a good win for us,” said Jackson coach Scott Elchert. “This is the fifth time we’ve played them, and the third time we’ve played in their gym. And the other two times we went up there, we laid an egg. So it was good to get a win.
“We did a great job defensively, especially in the second half,” he continued. “And the kids really stepped up when Brady went out. We don’t want to make a habit of playing without him, but it was good to see the other kids step up.”
Bryce Sosby hit four three-pointers on his way to a 20-point game, and sophomore Trent Platfoot finished with 10.
Jackson Center (49) — Platfoot 10, Booser 4, Elchert 3, Sosby 20, Bunke 2, Murphy 2, Wildermuth 8.
Columbus Grove (28) — Grothaus 6, Flores 1, Schrader 3, Malfam 8, Selby 4, Roney 6.
Score by quarters:
JC`10`27`38`49
CG`11`16`23`28
Three-pointers: JC 7 (Sosby 4, Platfoot 2, Elchert); CG 1 (Malfam).
Records: JC 2-0, CG 0-2.
Reserve score: CG 41, JC 27.
——
Fairlawn 76, Bradford 40
BRADFORD — Senior standout Nathan Lessing registered a double-double to lead the Fairlawn Jets to an easy 76-40 victory over the Bradford Railroaders on the road Saturday night.
The Jets are now 2-0 and play at Riverside Friday in non-league play.
“We came out with a little bit of pressure and it fed our offense,” said Fairlawn coach Justin Tidwell. “And we were able to impose our will on them.”
Lessing had a double-double for the second night in a row, pouring in 31 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Friday night against Botkins, he had 32 and 10.
Nick Brautigam had 10 points and seven rebounds, Keshon Johnson had nine points and 10 assists, and Drew Brautigam had eight points and 10 rebounds.
Fairlawn (76) — Graves 4, Lessing 31, Reck 2, N. Brautigam 10, Johnson 9, Jamison 4, Hickman 8, D. Brautigam 8.
Bradford (40) — Parker 6, Millhouse 6, Branson 18, Fike 4, Swob 5, Phillips 1.
Score by quarters:
Fairlawn`23`46`62`76
Bradford`10`15`27`40
Three-pointers: Fairlawn 1 (Lessing); Bradford 6 (Branson 3, Parker 2, Swob).
Records: Fairlawn 2-0, Bradford 0-1.
Reserve score: Fairlawn 57, Bradford 11.
——
Botkins 66, Parkway 54
ROCKFORD — Botkins gave up 20 points to Parkway in the opening period, but only 17 total over the next two en route to a 66-54 victory over the Panthers in action Saturday night on the road.
The verdict left both teams at 1-1 on the season. Botkins returns to action Friday at home against Fort Loramie in County play.
The Trojans were only down 20-18 after a quarter, but their defense led to a four-point lead at the half and after three periods. They then erupted for 25 points in the final period, with Luke Bergman going 6-for-6 from the line and the Trojans hitting 12 free throws in all over the final eight minutes.
Bergman led the Trojans with 21 points but had plenty of help in the scoring column. Ethan Butcher had 16, Alex Bergman 11 and Spencer Heuker nine. Butcher drained four three-pointers and Alex Bergman three. As a team, the Trojans sank 10 from beyond the arc.
Botkins (66) — Heuker 9, Opperman 3, Metz 6, L. Bergman 21, A. Bergman 11, Butcher 16.
Parkway (54) — May 19, Baxter 7, Hawk 5, Kinney 3, Baker 8, Barna 6, Feldes 5.
Score by quarters:
Botkins`18`31`41`66
Parkway`20`27`37`54
Three-pointers: Botkins 10 (Butcher 4, A. Bergman 3, L. Bergman 2, Opperman); Parkway 4 (Baxter 4).
Records: Both teams 1-1.
——
Newton 63, Houston 62 (2 OT)
HOUSTON — Houston and Newton battled close from start to finish, and that finish didn’t happen in regulation, the visiting Indians coming away with a 63-62 thriller in two overtimes Saturday night.
The tough loss left the Wildcats at 0-2 on the season heading into County action Friday night at Anna.
“It was a tough loss, but we got better,” said Houston coach Brad Francis, whose team lost to Russia Friday night. “We played a lot better. We had four chances to win it in regulation and the overtimes.”
The Wildcats led 42-36 late in the third quarter but had to settle for a 43-40 lead after three quarters. And it wasn’t enough to keep Newton at bay.
It was 57-57 after the first overtime, and Newton came out and took the lead in the second overtime. And Houston came up just short.
Cameron Arnold had 18 points and seven assists for Houston, and Dylan Hensley had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Newton (63) — Honeycutt 19, Jackson 7, Mollette 16, Evans 3, Rissle 10, Clymer 8.
Houston (62) — Shoemaker 8, Freistuhler 3, Beaver 2, Ludwig 8, Arnold 18, Sluss 3, Bryant 2, Hensley 18.
Score by quarters:
Newton`16`27`40`52`57`63
Houston`11`31`43`52`57`62
Three-pointers: Newton 8 (Mollette 4, Honeycutt, Jackson, Rissle, Clymer); Houston 5 (Ludwig 2, Freistuhler, Arnold, Sluss).
Records: Houston 0-2, Newton 1-0.
Reserve score: Newton 40, Houston 39.
——
Loramie 75, NK 51
NEW KNOXVILLE — Fort Loramie capped off an excellent opening weekend with a 74-51 rout of New Knoxville in non-league boys basketball action Saturday night.
The Redskins go to 2-0 heading into a County matchup at Botkins Saturday night. Knoxville is 0-1 and plays at Waynesfield Friday night.
“We dominated the second half,” said Loramie head coach Corey Britton. “We started off well but New Knoxville would not go away. We ramped up our intensity in the second half and they weren’t able to handle it.”
Fort Loramie scored the first 12 points of the game, but New Knoxville fought back to within five in the second quarter on a three-pointer by Nick Topp. But the Redskins closed out the half on a 5-0 run for a 30-20 lead at the break.
But the second half was all Loramie, with a 14-0 run pushing the lead to as man as 24 points in the third quarter.
The Redskins were led by the junior trio of Evan Berning, Dillon Braun and Tyler Siegel. Berning had 21, Braun 17 and Siegel 14. Braun and Berning also added seven rebounds each, and Berning had four steals and four assists.
Cody Gasson led the Redskins on the boards with 10 rebounds.
Loramie was 25-for-53 from the field.
New Knoxville was led by Topp with 17 and Ben Lammers with 11.
Fort Loramie (75) — Brandewie 3, Berning 21, Barhorst 3, Braun 17, Rosengarten 5, Pleiman 4, Gasson 5, A. Siegel 2, T. Siegel 14.
New Knoxville (54) — Bartholamew 2, Osborne 2, Topp 17, Lammers 11, Lageman 9, Tinnerman 3, Thobe 4, Albers 3.
Score by quarters:
FL`14`30`51`74
NK`6`20`31`54
Three-pointers: FL 6 (Berning 2, Braun 2, Brandewie, Gasson); NK 9 (Lammers 3, Lageman 3, Topp 2, Thobe 2).
Records: FL 2-0, NK 0-1.
Reserve score: FL 65, NK 16.
——
Triad 57, Riverside 54
ZANESFIELD — Riverside dipped to 0-2 after losing to Triad 57-54 in the consolation game of the Ben Logan Tip-Off Tournament Saturday night.
The Pirates, who lost Friday night to Ben Logan 64-49, are 0-2 and return to action Tuesday at home against Bradford in non-league play.
Trey Helmlinger capped off an outstanding weekend with 18 in the loss to Triad. He poured in 24 points on Friday night.
Tyler Sanford added 12 points against Triad Saturday, and Hunter Kreglow pulled down nine rebounds.
The Pirates led 17-14 after a quarter but struggled through the second period, getting outscored 20-11 to fall behind by 34-28 at the half.
“This is the second night in a row where I thought we came out ready to play and got off to a good start,” said Riverside coach Seth Bodenmiller. “Then in the second quarter, we lost our focus and started making careless mistakes and Triad took advantage of them. We made some adjustments at halftime and really played a lot better in the second half. This was the type of game where you realize how much each possession matters. Down the stretch, it came down to some of those careless mistakes we made in the first half and going 6 for 12 from the free throw line that led to the outcome of the game.”
Riverside (54) — Sanford 12, Harshbarger 5, Helmlinger 18, Knight 2, Auflick 2, Lane 2, Wolloby 6, Kreglow 7.
Triad — no scoring available
Score by quarters:
Riverside`17`28`41`54
Triad`14`34`44`57
Three-pointers: Riverside 6 (Helmlinger 3, Sanford 2, Harshbarger).
Records: Riverside 0-2, Triad 1-1.
——
Troy Chr. 67, Bremen 56
NEW BREMEN — Troy Christian sprinted to a 19-10 lead after a quarter and New Bremen couldn’t overcome it in falling 67-56 at home Saturday night in non-league action.
The Cardinals drop to 0-2 with the loss and are back in action Saturday at home against St. Marys.
Bremen lost to Kalida on Friday night by a 45-44 score.
Avery Powers led Bremen against Troy Christian with 15, Nolan Bornhorst added 13 and Levi Clem finished with 10.
In the loss Friday, Bornhorst had 11 and Luke Vonderhaar 10.
Score by quarters:
TC`18`37`47`67
NB`10`24`40`56
Three-pointers: TC 6 (Wynne 3, Schenk, Hartman, Case); NB 2 (Clem, Powers).
Records: NB 0-2, TC 1-1.
