Fort Loramie and Houston set up all-SCL sectional final
By Tim Langevin
Botkins stunning upset win over Jackson Center Tuesday night served notice for Fort Loramie coach Karl Ratermann and Houston coach John Willoughby. They both witnessed the contest and agreed that anything can happen at the Boys D-IV Piqua Sectionals.
Ratermann and Willoughby had plenty of bulletin board material to motivate their respective teams heading into Wednesday’s double-dose of Madness.
Luckily, both teams responded with somewhat-convincing wins. Houston defeated Fairlawn for the third time 64-57 and Fort Loramie beat Mississinawa Valley 56-42.
Now the stage is set for a high-stakes showdown Saturday evening at Garbry Gym. Face off is 7:00 PM.
The two teams split the SCL season series, both winning on the road. Both finished league play with 10-2 records for a share of the SCL title. However, this match-up is more than a battle for SCL supremacy. It’s win and advance or lose and go home crying.
“It’s always a challenge to get out of Piqua Sectionals,” said Ratermann. “Just take it one game at a time. I know Houston will be prepared for us. And we will be prepared for them. It should be an electrifying atmosphere Saturday night.”
Willoughby said, “The Piqua Sectionals is the premiere Ohio sectional because it takes three wins to get out of here. This tournament is like a district title up north. No doubt about it.”
He added, “We are not looking forward to playing Fort Loramie, but we are not afraid. We don’t back down to anybody. Whoever we play we go out and play as hard as we can.”
Houston hit five threes in the early going to take a commanding 17-2 lead and never trailed. During the run, Jacob Benanzer bombed two threes, while Josh Reed, Travis Anderson, and Derek Estes each recorded one.
Willoughby confessed, “This tournament makes you worry. The atmosphere. The nerves. It all builds up. You never know how the kids will respond. Luckily I have nine seniors.”
Fairlawn scrapped back and narrowed the gap 30-26 with 6:05 left in the third quarter, but Houston answered with a 13-2 spurt to rebuild the lead 45-34 heading into the final stanza. Anthony Gillem ended it with a 50-foot bomb at the buzzer. He finished the game with nine points.
Willoughby tweaked the game plan for the third meeting. He said, “We went back to deny defense instead of help defense. We stayed out on Gillem, denied him the whole game. We did a pretty good job on Everett, too.”
The Wildcats played keep-away most of the fourth quarter, forcing the Jets to foul. Houston made 15-of-18 foul shots down the stretch. Jacob Monnier was 4-of-4 and Estes converted 6-of-7. The Wildcats shot 78 percent from the line for the game, canning 21-of-27 throws.
Benanzer led a balanced Houston attack with 13 points, while Redd scored 11 points with seven rebounds and Estes added 11 points.
Houston improves to 16-5 on the season.
Trey Everett had 14 points for Fairlawn and Shelby Hoying added 13 points.
The Jets finish the season 10-11.
In the second contest, Fort Loramie struggled the first quarter, leading Mississinawa Valley 14-13. But Loramie’s Bigs – Chris Meyer and Joe Poeppelman – established their inside presence with 10 points combined.
Ratermann said, “Chris and Joe are playing with confidence. My assistants have done a great job working with them. And both kids work real hard in practice.”
The Black hawks were up early 8-7 on an Alex Murphy 15-footer at the 4:45 mark, prompting Ratermann to call time out. He simply screamed , “Is that all you guys got? Is that all you guys got out there tonight?”
Enough said. Loramie reclaimed the lead 10-7 on a Poeppelman drive down the lane and never looked back.
The Redskins expanded the margin 27-22 at the break. Kyle Miracle was the spark off the bench with five points, including a three from the perimeter.
With the absence of point guard Cody Albers due to ankle sprain, Ratermann was pleased with his guard play, “I thought our guards stepped up. I have utmost confidence in Justen Meyer, Nick Meyer, and Ryan Humphreys as well as Kyle Miracle.”
The Redskins heated up in the third quarter and built a 41-30 lead. Meyer and Poeppelman continued to work the inside and Nick Meyer, Jake Cordonnier, and Austin Luebke stretched the defense with mid-range jumpers.
Ratermann said, “We scouted them recently and we knew we had to contain their scorers Gary Peace and Larry LeMaster. I thought Luebke did a nice job on Peace when poeppelman got into early foul trouble. I was real pleased with the second half. We played with more energy.”
LeMaster was held to four points and Peace scored 14 points, but it was Alex Murphy that kept it close for Valley with 17 points.
Loramie’s biggest lead of the game was 49-34 midway through the fourth. Nick Meyer scored on a nifty give-n-go down the lane and Chris Meyer scored on another stickback.
Chris Meyer posted a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He was 7-of-10 from the field.
Poeppelman scored 11 points, but only played about 12 minutes due to foul trouble.
Nick Meyer finished with 10 points, three assists and three steals.
Fort Loramie stands at 17-5 on the season.
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