Staff report
RUSSIA — The Russia Lady Raiders served notice Saturday afternoon that they may be the team to beat in the tight County girls basketball race, dominating the Fort Loramie Lady Redskins 50-27 in a key league matchup.
The win was Russia’s eighth in a row and put the Lady Raiders at 4-1 in the league and 11-1 overall heading into a home game Thursday against Houston.
Fort Loramie, which had reeled off five wins in a row, including over unbeaten Versailles, is now 8-4 overall and drops out of a first-place tie in the County race at 4-2. The Lady Redskins are back in action Thursday at Anna.
The game was decided by the first quarter performance of the Lady Raiders, who came out firing and held an 18-3 lead after one quarter.
They then went on to outscore the Lady Redskins 19-11 in the second period to make it a 37-14 lead at the half. Loramie then went scoreless in the third quarter to trail 42-14 after three.
The Lady Raiders hit 55 percent of their shots from the field, 20-for-36, while the Lady Redskins managed only 9-for-38, 23 percent from the floor.
Maria Herron led the way for Russia, hitting 17 points and making seven of her 11 field goal attempts, including 3-for-5 from three-point range.
Laurissa Poling added 10 points and was 4-for-6 from the field, and Tiffany Hatcher also had 10 points.
Fort Loramie (27) — Gephart 5, Luebke 2, S. Stang 7, Ratermann 4, C. Stang 5, Meyer 2, Imwalle 2.
Russia (50) — Cordonnier 6, Poling 10, Hatcher 10, Wilson 5, Pleiman 2, Herron 17.
Score by quarters:
Loramie`3`14`14`27
Russia`18`37`42`50
Three-pointers: Russia 4 (Herron 3, Hatcher); Loramie 2 (Ratermann, Gephart).
Records: Russia 11-1, Loramie 8-4.
COUNTY STANDINGS
(League, All)
`W-L`W-L
Russia`4-1`11-1
Jackson Center`4-1`8-2
Loramie`3-2`8-4
Botkins`3-2`9-2
Anna`2-3`6-5
Houston`1-4`3-9
Fairlawn`0-5`0-11
——
Sidney 65, Xenia 47
XENIA — It was another amazing performance by Sidney’s 6-foot-2 post player Celena Taborn, and it led the Sidney Lady Jackets to a 65-47 victory over Xenia in Greater Western Ohio Conference action on Saturday.
The win put Sidney at 8-4 overall and 6-1 in GWOC play heading into action tonight at Bellefontaine.
Taborn finished with 40 points and added 23 rebounds to lead the way, and got the Lady Jackets off to a strong start with 12 of those in the first quarter, including two three-pointers.
Despite her performance, the Lady Jackets led just 19-18 after one, but outscored the Lady Buccs 13-5 in the second quarter to gain the upper hand at 32-23 at the half.
Taborn didn’t let up, scoring 10 more points in the second quarter, and nine in each of the last two periods for her 40 points. It was the second time this season Taborn has hit the 40-point mark, scoring 45 against St. Marys.
“I knew we would be able to dominate inside because their tallest girl is 5-9,” said Sidney coach Megan Mummey. “Celena was 13-for-20 on the inside and showed off her three-point shot by hitting three out of four from behind the arc. But defensively the matchup was a problem for us. With no true post, that put Celena on a guard and she sank a few threes. And what hurt us most was when she had to contest and was no longer in the paint to help and rebound.”
As a result, it was just an eight-point game at 49-41 with 5:51 left in the final period. But the Lady Jackets were able to get stops and score at the other end to finish the Lady Buccs off.
Alina Kindle added eight points for Sidney and Carrie Nuss handed out eight assists.
With her 40 points, Taborn moves up to third on the school’s all-time girls scoring list with 1,249, and up to second in career rebounds with 862.
Sidney (65) — Nuss 3, Kindle 8, Poswers 6, Lee 6, Johnson 2, Taborn 40.
Xenia (47) — Claybaugh 13, Welch 5, Martin-Nooks 10, Rody 8, Wallace 9, James 3.
Score by quarters:
Sidney`19`32`46`65
Xenia`18`23`35`47
Three-pointers: Sidney 8 (Raborn 3, Kindle 2, Lee 2, Powers); Xenia 3 (Claybaugh 3).
Records: Sidney 8-4, Xenia 2-10.
Reserve score: Sidney 39, Xenia 17.
——
Jackson 32, Houston 21
HOUSTON — Jackson Center remained in a tie for first in the County race with a 32-21 victory over Houston in action at Houston Saturday.
The Lady Tigers are 4-1 in the league and 8-2 overall with unbeaten Minster coming to Jackson on Tuesday.
Houston drops to 1-4 in the league and 3-9 overall and hosts Franklin-Monroe tonight.
Jackson led 13-4 after a quarter but scored just tw0 points in the second quarter, shortening the lead to 15-12. But the Lady Tigers regrouped and outscored Houston 11-3 in the third quarter.
Cassie Meyer had 11 for Jackson and was the only player in the game to reach double figures.
Jackson Center (32) — Reese 3, Elchert 3, Meyer 11, Winner 7, Clark 6, Ware 2.
Houston (21) — Maier 5, Ely 3, J. Monnier 5, New 8.
Score by quarters:
Jackson`13`15`26`32
Houston`4`12`15`21
Three-pointers: Houston 2 (Maier, Monnier); JC 3 (Elchert, Meyer, Winner).
Records: JC 8-2, Houston 3-9.
Reserve score: JC 33, Houston 30.
——
Anna 71, Fairlawn 16
ANNA — Anna rolled to a 71-16 victory over Fairlawn in County action at Anna Saturday.
The Lady Rockets are now 6-5 and have won three straight. They are 2-3 in the league and host Fort Loramie Thursday.
Fairlawn is 0-11 on the year and 0-5 in the league and is at Mechanicsburg Tuesday.
Anna led 16-5 after a quarter and 30-5 at the half.
Jada Rowland led the Lady Rockets with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Macey Huelskamp added 10. Brook Gaydosh had three assists and Breah Kuck and Taylor Hauffman five steals each.
Fairlawn (16) — Huelskamp 6, Dudgeon 4, Morrison 2, Pierce 4.
Anna (71) — Spicer 9, Aufderhaar 8, B. Gaydosh 2, Rowland 14, Meyer 5, Huelskamp 10, Kuck 7, Scully 9, Kauffman 8.
Score by quarters:
Fairlawn`5`5`10`16
Anna`16`30`54`71
Three-pointers: Fairlawn 1 (Pierce); Anna 2 (Scully, Kuck).
Records: Anna 6-5, Fairlawn 0-11.
——
Marion Elgin 49, Lehman 35
MARION — Lehman went on the road and played well for a half, but Marion Elgin dominated the final two periods and defeated the Lady Cavs 49-35 in non-league play.
The loss leaves Lehman at 4-7 with Lima Perry coming to town on Thursday.
Alanna O’Leary led the Lady Cavs in scoring with 11 points and Hannah Fogt had seven rebounds. O’Leary added six rebounds and Grace Monnin had five steals.
Lehman (35) — Monnin 6, O’Leary 11, B. McIver 2, Edwards 5, McFarland 5, Fogt 3, R. McIver 3.
Elgin (49) — Chocherl 4, Hager 21, Muslin 11, Wolf 6, Runda 6.
Score by quarters:
Lehman`11`19`23`35
Elgin`13`22`31`49
Three-pointers: Lehman 0; Elgin (not available)
Records: Lehman 4-7.
——
Botkins 46, New Bremen 42
NEW BREMEN — Botkins snapped a two-game losing streak with a tight 46-42 victory over the New Bremen Lady Cardinals Saturday in non-league play at Bremen.
The win put the Lady Trojans at 9-2 on the year with Fairlawn coming to town on Thursday.
New Bremen falls to 4-7 and is in action Thursday at Fort Recovery.
Botkins trailed by three at the half but took a one-point lead after three quarters.
Paige Lane had 15 points and hit three of her four three-point attempts to lead the Lady Trojans. Sarah Bergman added 14 and Jenna Pitts added 10 points. Lane and Bergman both had two steals and two assists.
Bergman came up big at crunch time, scoring 12 of her team’s 14 points in the final quarter, including 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
Botkins cashed on on 14 of 19 from the line.
New Bremen was led by Jane Homan with 16.
Botkins (46) — Pitts 10, Greve 2, Bergman 14, Lane 15, Woodall 4, Homan 1.
Bremen (42) — Puthoff 8, Tenkman 3, Smith 2, Arling 2, Naylor 3, Brown 4, Bergman 4, Homan 16.
Score by quarters:
Botkins`8`18`32`46
Bremen`10`21`31`42
Three-pointers: Botkins 6 (Lane 3, Pitts 2, Bergman); Bremen 5 (Homan 2, Tenkman, Naylor, Brown).
Records: Botkins 9-2, NB 4-7.
——
Troy Chr. 66, Riverside 19
TROY — Troy Christian held Riverside to just four points in the first quarter and went on to beat the Lady Pirates 66-19 in non-league action Saturday at TC.
Riverside drops to 1-10 on the year and plays at Waynesfield Thursday.
Riverside (19) — Jones 4, Davis 4, Kreglow 8, Plank 3
TC (66) — Earhart 5, Blake 16, Lee 8, Peters 10, Lavy 13, Salazar 8, Forrer 6.
Score by quarters:
Riverside`0`4`12`19
Troy Christian`16`34`51`66
Three-pointers: Riverside 1 (Plank); TC 4 (Salazar 2, Forrer 2).
Records: Riverside 1-10, TC 8-2.
