Staff report
A strong start, a strong finish and superb play out of their top two led the Lehman Cavaliers to a 56-41 victory on the road Tuesday over the Newton Indians in non-league boys basketball action.
The win gave the Cavaliers a 6-8 mark heading into a tough challenge Friday night at home against Upper Scioto Valley in Northwest Central Conference play.
“We picked ourselves up off the mat,” said Lehman coach Tim Gleason, in reference to back-to-back losses over the weekend against the top two teams on the schedule, Lima Perry and Sidney. “We played well. We got off to a strong start and we finished strong. We had some moments in between when we struggled but the kids really responded after a tough weekend.”
The Cavs jumped to a 15-8 lead after a quarter, with Kam Lee and Dylan Arnold, the team’s one-two punch, scoring all but two of those points.
They again scored all but two in the second quarter, when Lehman scored 16. But Newton countered with 15 and it was just an eight-point lead for the Cavs at the half.
In the third quarter, however, the Cavs made their move, outscoring the Indians by ten to open up a 47-29 bulge.
Lee was outstanding, finishing with 17 points and 16 rebounds. “He just dominated the boards,” said Gleason.
Arnold, meanwhile, led all scorers with 25 points.
“Dylan had a nice game and brought a lot of energy,” said Gleason.
Lehman (56) — Gilardi 4, Rourke 4, Richard 2, Kennedy 2, Rodgers 2, Arnold 25, Lee 17.
Newton (41) — Jackson 5, Mollette 8, Lavy 6, Walker 1, Evans 8, Riffle 4, Miller-Search 6, Clymer 3.
Score by quarters:
Lehman`15`31`47`56
Newton`8`23`29`41
Three-pointers: Lehman 4 (Lee 3, Arnold); Newton 6 (Mollette 2, Lavy 2, Jackson, Evans).
Records: Lehman 6-8, Newton 4-11.
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Botkins 50, Houston 47
BOTKINS — The Botkins Trojans rallied furiously in the final period to avoid an upset and pull out a 50-47 victory over the visiting Houston Wildcats in County boys basketball action Tuesday night.
The win put the Trojans at 6-10 overall and it was their first County win, leaving them 1-8 going into a game Friday at Jackson Center.
Houston is also 1-8 in league play and now 1-14 overall. They will host the Fairlawn Jets Friday night.
Houston controlled the action for three quarters, and a big part of that was limiting high-scoring Trojan senior Luke Bergman to just 10 points over the first three. But in a case of the cream rising to the top, Bergman exploded for 20 points in the final quarter, with a three, four twos and nine free throws in 10 attempts.
“Botkins made several big plays, so give them credit,” said Houston coach Brad Francis. “And especially Luke Bergman.”
Bergman’s fourth-quarter play gave him 30 points on the night, and teammate Alex Bergman added 12.
For the Wildcats, Cameron Arnold had 19 and Howie Ludwig 10.
Houston hurt its chances to maintain its lead with struggles at the free throw line in the final period. Going to the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were 8-for-10 from the line, but in that final period, they were just 8-for-21, opening the door for the Trojans to steal a victory by scoring as many points in the quarter, 25, as they had in the first three combined.
Houston (47) — Leist 2, Shoemaker 7, Freistuhler 1, Beaver 6, Ludwig 10, Arnold 19, Sluss 2.
Botkins (50) — Goubeaux 1, Heuker 3, Metz 2, L. Bergman 30, A. Bergman 12, Butcher 2.
Score by quarters:
Houston`16`24`37`47
Botkins`6`17`25`50
Three-pointers: Botkins 2 (Heuker, L. Bergman); Houston 3 (Ludwig 2, Shoemaker).
Records: Botkins 6-10, Houston 1-14.
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Riverside 56, Greenon 34
ENON — The Riverside Pirates sprinted to a 19-4 lead after a quarter and cruised to a 56-34 victory over Greenon in non-league boys action Tuesday night.
The win put the Pirates at 3-10 and snapped a four-game losing streak. They are back in action Friday night at Ridgemont in NWCC play.
“We got off to a great start,” said Riverside coach Seth Bodenmiller. “We came out with a lot of energy and a lot of focus. We were able to build up a quick lead and maintain it throughout the rest of the game. You have to give a lot of credit to Greenon, though. They kept fighting and would not let us pull away in the first half. Then in the third quarter, we came out with that same fire that we started the game with, which I thought made the difference in the game. Overall, I could not be happier with the effort our guys gave tonight.”
Trey Helmlinger tossed in 20 points to lead the Pirates, including hitting 6-for-8 from the line. Teammate Lane Willoby added 10 points and Hunter Kreglow pulled down 10 rebounds. Helmlinger also led in assists with four.
Riverside canned 22 of 52 from the field for 42 percent.
Riverside (56) — Sanford 2, Heath 3, Harshbarger 6, Helmlinger 20, Knight 6, Lane 3, Willoby 10, Kreglow 6.
Greenon (34) — Swope 1, Williams 7, Chafin 2, Flanegin 7, Anderson 3, Conover 3, Coppock 11.
Score by quarters:
Riverside`19`28`45`56
Greenon`4`13`27`34
Three-pointers: Riverside 4 (Helmlinger 2, Heath, Lane); Greenon 2 (Flanegin, Anderson).
Records: Riverside 3-10, Greenon 2-12.
Reserve score: Riverside 36, Greenon 26.
