RUSSIA — Evan Monnier hit a shot in the final seconds to break a tie and give Russia a 46-44 win in a Shelby County Athletic League game on Friday at Claire C. Naveau Gymnasium.
Monnier scored 10 points, with eight coming in the fourth quarter. His game-winning shot off the glass came a few seconds after Bryce Sosby had hit a 3-pointer to tie the game.
Daniel Kearns led Russia with 15 points. Trent Platfoot led Jackson Center with 21 points and Aidan Reichert added 11. The Raiders made 16 field goals and 10-of-14 free-throw attempts, while Jackson Center made 17 field goals (including eight 3’s) and 2-of-3 foul shots.
Russia jumped out to a 14-2 lead by the end of the first quarter, but the Tigers used a 19-9 scoring advantage in the second quarter to pull within 23-21 at halftime. The Tigers outscored Russia 13-11 in the third to tie the game.
The Raiders (8-4, 6-1 SCAL) play next on Saturday at home against Versailles. Jackson Center plays (7-6, 3-4) returns to action on Friday at home against Anna.
Fort Loramie 77, Botkins 37
Fort Loramie took its 12-0 record on the road to Botkins on Friday night and came away with a big victory.
The Redskins wore throwback red uniforms from the late 90’s and came out on fire. They busted out to a 20-4 lead after one quarter thanks in large part to strong post play as seniors Austin Siegel and Tyler Siegel combined for 10 points.
In the second quarter, Fort Loramie would dial things up from long distance hitting four 3s, including two from junior guard Carter Mescher. The Redskins led 44-18 at halftime.
Fort Loramie was extremely efficient in the first half, shooting 5-of-9 from 3-point range with 13 assists on 19 total field goals.
Evan Berning scored nine of his game-high 18 in the third quarter to help Fort Loramie outscore Botkins 18-11. In the final quarter, senior Cody Barhorst scored six points.
Dillon Braun added 17 points while Carter Mescher scored 14 and Tyler Siegel finished with 12. Conner Smock and Tyler Free led Botkins with nine points each.
Fort Loramie made 31-of-51 shot attempts (60 percent) while Botkins made 12-of-34 (35 percent). The Redskins outrebounded Botkins 24-9.
Minster 48, New Bremen 43
Minster overcame a slow start to beat New Bremen and stay undefeated in Midwest Athletic Conference play on Friday.
New Bremen led 9-6 at the end of the first quarter and used a 12-8 scoring advantage in the second to extend the lead to seven points at halftime.
The Wildcats outscored the Cardinals 18-10 in the third to take a 32-31 lead, then Mike Ketner scored eight points in the fourth quarter to help Minster secure the win.
Jarod Schulze led Minster with 12 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Ketner finished with 10 points and Cody Frericks added eight. The Wildcats made 16-of-44 field goals (36 percent) and 13-of-16 free-throw attempts.
Nolan Bornhorst led New Bremen with 15 points while Avery Powers added nine. The Cardinals shot 16 for 66 (24.2 percent) from the field 8 for 15 from the free-throw line. Minster outrebounded New Bremen 39-34.
Versailles 73, Fort Recovery 46
Justin Ahrens became the all-time leading scorer in Versailles and Midwest Athletic Conference boys basketball history on Friday.
The Versailles senior drained a 3-pointer with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter to pass Versailles alumnus Kyle Gehle as the conference’s and school’s all-time leading scorer. He ended the night with 38 points to lead the Tigers to a MAC victory.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Ahrens said. “It’s something I’ve really looked forward to all my life, but it’s really something along the way, and it’s not something I settled for. I’m not going to settle for this. I’m just looking to keep getting better, and I’m going to keep working. I really give credit to my teammates for helping me along this way. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them all these four years.”
Versailles coach Travis Swank said Ahrens had some shooting struggles the past couple games, but he went back to the basics during practice and rediscovered his shooting stroke, which set him up for a big night on Friday.
“Yesterday in practice he shot really well for the first time in a while really,” Swank said. “I think that confidence kind of came back from seeing the ball go through the rim, and he put on a display here tonight.”
Ahrens finished the night with a game-high 38 points. Also for the Tigers, Stammen scored 11 points and AJ Ahrens scored 10. Payton Jutte led Fort Recovery with 19 points and Ryan Braun scored 11.
Temple Christian 60, Riverside 49
Riverside’s bid for a win at Lima Temple Christian fell apart in the fourth quarter on Friday. The Pirates trailed by five points at the end of the third quarter, but Temple Christian won the fourth 20-14 to pull away to a double-digit win.
“Early in the fourth quarter, we got the lead down to three and then Temple went on a big 8-0 run that we just couldn’t come back from,” Riverside coach Seth Bodenmiller said.
Temple Christian jumped out to a 16-8 lead by the end of the first quarter, but Riverside used a 17-11 scoring advantage in the second to pull within 27-25 at halftime. The Pirates trailed 40-35 heading into the fourth.
“Tonight was just a hard fought battle,” Bodenmiller said. “I thought our guys played with a lot of energy and gave great effort the whole night. We had some issues early in the game and they built an eight-point lead, but then we were able to fight back in the second.”
Kyle Knight led Riverside with 21 points while John Zumberger added eight. The Pirates made 18-of-36 field goal attempts and had 15 rebounds.
Brody Bowman led Temple Christian with 34 points.
St. Henry 69, New Knoxville 37
The Redskins jump started Friday’s MAC win with a 17-5 scoring advantage in the second quarter. St. Henry turned a 30-15 hafltime lead into a 55-27 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Nathan Tinnerman led New Knoxville with 12 points while Jonah Lageman finished with 10.
