Russia rallies to get Bremigan his 400th
PIQUA —Russia rallied in the final three minutes to pull out a 53-49 victory over Piqua and get longtime head coach Paul Bremigan his 400th career coaching victory Friday night in boys basketball action in the holiday tournament at Piqua.
The Raider trailed late in the game, but outscored the Indians 9-1 in the final three minutes to post the win and get Bremigan his milestone victory.
Russia goes to 7-3 with the win and takes on Lehman tonight in the tournament championship.
• Meanwhile, it was a perfect night for the Lehman basketball teams in action against Covington Friday night at the Buckeye Insurance Classic at Piqua High School.
The Lady Cavs were up first and came through with an amazing rally to pull out a 40-35 victory over the Lady Buccs. Lehman trailed 26-12 late in the first half of the game.
“Our defense is the key to our team and it was again tonight,” said Lehman coach Craig Hall.
Lehman trailed 13-3 at one point in the early going, but scored nine in a row, only to have Covington reel off 12 in a row. But the Lady Cavs took over from there.
Julia Harrelson had 18 points to lead the Lady Cavs, who are now 2-6 and will play Russia tonight in the championship game at 7 p.m.
• The Lehman boys had no such drama, leading from start to finish in routing the Buccaneers 55-24. It was 47-14 at one point early in the final period.
The Cavaliers are now 4-2 on the season and play in the championship game tonight at Piqua against either Piqua or Russia, who played the late game Friday.
The Cavaliers roared out of the blocks to a 21-3 lead after a quarter, and even though they scored just seven points in the second period, they still increased the lead because the Buccs managed only three in the period, making it 28-6 at the break.
The Cavalier defensive pressure led to easy baskets from the start and the Buccs were never able to get untracked.
“One of the things we have focused on is defense,” Tollefson said. “We have gotten a late start because of the football playoffs and a senior retreat, but we have worked really hard on our defense and it paid off tonight.”
Jackson Frantz led Lehman with 12 and was the only one in double figures as Tollefson got a lot of players ample playing time.
“The great thing about tonight was we were still increasing the lead when we had our nine and 10 kids in there,” Tollefson said. “The kids were excited after the game and I told them that was great. But I told them they need to be ready to play (tonight).”
Girls
Covington (35) — Richards 2, Gostomsky 6,Cron 4, Cain 13, Shell 8, Long 2. Totals: 12-9-35.
Lehman (40) — Schmitz 7, Harrelson 18, Emrick 2, Jones 8, Lee 1, Kronenberger 2, Hall 2. Totals: 14-12-40.
Score by quarters:
Covington 13 26 28 35
Lehman 5 16 25 40
Three-pointers: Lehman 0, Covington 2 (Shell 2).
Records: Lehman 2-6, Covington 2-7.
Boys
Covington (24) — Meyer 9, Clark 2, Benedict 7, Earick 4, Henry 2. Totals: 8-6-24.
Lehman (55) — Lee 1, Westerheide 5, Covault 2, Rourke 6, Frantz 12, Monnin 2, Selsor 2, Spearman 2, Smith 7, Hall 7, Rego 9. Totals: 21-12-55.
Score by quarters:
Covington 3 6 14 24
Lehman 21 28 43 55
Three-pointers: Lehman 2 (Westerheide,Smith); Covington 2 (Meyer, Benedict).
Records: Lehman 4-2, Covington 2-5.
——
Russia girls
defeat Piqua
PIQUA — The Russia girls advanced to the championship game against Lehman with a 45-37 victory over Piqua in the second girls semifinal at Piqua Friday.
The Lady Raiders go to 6-4 with the victory and drop the Lady Indians to 3-5.
The Lady Raiders won despite a lot of physical problems, like a knee injury, fever, and a sprained ankle suffered while warming up. But they fought through it with defense, holding Piqua to just one field goal and seven points the entire first half.
Tiffany Hatcher scored 16 to lead the Lady Raiders.
“I thought it was a defensive battle to a certain extent,” said Russia coach Tim Hatcher. “But we were able to execute some things at the offensive end. Tiffany had a good game against Sidney earlier in the year so we know she is capable of that. She has to go home with me, so she knows she needs to play well. And I thought Kylie Wilson really gave us a great effort out there and Lauren Heaton had a strong floor game.”
Russia (45) — Wilson 9, Kearns 8, Hatcher 16, Sherman 1, Heaton 7, Borchers 2, Pleiman 2. Totals: 12-17-45.
Piqua (37) — Went 1, Schrubb 3, Davis 2, Potts 9, Yout 16, Allen 5, Grunkemeyer 1. Totals: 11-12-37.
Score by quarters:
Russia 13 20 31 45
Piqua 47 17 37
Three-pointers: Russia 4 (Hatcher 3,Heaton); Piqua 3 (Yount 2, Allen).
Records: Russia 6-4, Piqua 3-5.
Reserve score: Russia 32, Piqua 21.