“This team is very young,” Woods said. “These guys are all new to it. We had to coach them up and now they’ve got it.”
»RELATED: Friday’s high school roundup
Junior Kai Vance and Rogers each had 15 points as the Cougars beat Springfield Emmanuel Christian Academy 58-41 in a Division IV district final game on Friday night at the Vandalia Butler Student Activity Center.
“Three years ago seemed like a long time,” Woods said. “It was a journey to get back to this stage of the tournament. It’s tough. We weathered the storm. (Emmanuel Christian) is unbelievable. They fight. They never wavered.”
Vance scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including two key 3-pointers.
“He took some big shots,” Woods said. “He took some shots that were rhythm shots where I thought maybe we could’ve gotten a better look, but he was feeling it. When he gets going, he’s something else. It was amazing. It was great to see him play with confidence and hit those big shots.”
Cincinnati Christian led 17-7 after one quarter, but the Lions went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three points. The Cougars led 21-18 at the half.
Cincinnati Christian used a 7-0 run to take a 36-27 lead with 1:32 remaining in the third quarter, forcing a Lions timeout.
Emmanuel Christian pulled to within six points at 40-34 early in the fourth quarter, but wouldn’t get any close. The Cougars made 17-of-18 free throws, including 13-of-14 in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Emmanuel Christian’s Fred Shropshire had 14 points and Jason Channels added 12 for the Lions (22-3), who entered the game having won 21 straight games.
Logan Woods had 12 points and KJ Swain added 10 for the Cougars (20-6), who advanced to play Jackson Center in a D-IV regional semifinal game at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the University of Dayton Arena. The Tigers beat Cedarville 33-30 in the second of three D-IV district final games in Vandalia.
“Coach Elchert does a great job with those boys,” Carl Woods said of Jackson Center. “That’s a very blessed program. They’ve got a rich tradition there. We know it’s going to be a grinder. We’re going to have to fight and get after it. They have what we want, they’ve been to the final four, won a state championship. If we want it bad enough, we have to go through them to get it.”
Fort Loramie 59, New Miami 37: New Miami saw its season end in the D-IV district finals for the second straight season.
Fort Loramie outscored the Vikings 20-11 in the third quarter — including an 8-0 run that extended the lead to double digits for good.
Junior Jordan Robinette scored 13 points and junior Deanza Duncan added 12 as New Miami finished its season 20-6.
“This was a tough one,” said Vikings coach Jared Lee. “That’s a very good team. They said after the game this is their 18th district championship. You’ve to tip your hat to them. They imposed their physicality on us and they were the better team tonight.”
Caeleb Meyer had 17 points and Nate Meyer scored 14 for the Redskins (18-7), who advanced to play Columbus Wellington in a D-IV regional semifinal game at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at UD Arena.
The Redskins led by three after the first quarter and jumped out to a 17-9 lead on a 3-pointer by Nate Meyer with about four minutes remaining in the second quarter. They led 25-17 at the half.
Duncan hit a 3-pointer to cut the Redskins’ lead to five to open the third quarter, but Fort Loramie went on an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 33-20.
“We banged a jump shot, but then we couldn’t get a rebound,” Lee said. “You give any team two or three shots each possession, they’re going to be a good shooting team. They took advantage of it. They didn’t let us make a run.”
The Vikings graduate three seniors — Jaron Phillips, Danny Spivey and Elijah Faulker — who finished their careers with back-to-back district runner-up finishes.
“It’s been an absolute joy coaching those fellas the last few years,” Lee said.
New Miami will return three 1,000-point scorers in Duncan, Jordan Robinette and Trey Robinette. First, they’ll celebrate their success, Lee said.
“We’re going to unwind a little bit,” Lee said. “We just had the first 20-win season in school history. … We’re going to take a deep breath, enjoy the season we had because we have a lot to celebrate. We’ll get back to the drawing board and get ready for next season.”
About the Author