VERSAILLES – The Versailles Tigers opened the 2025–2026 boys basketball season in strong fashion, earning a 64-49 non-conference victory over the visiting Celina Bulldogs with a starting lineup featuring four juniors and one senior.
“Overall, I think we did some good things offensively, and we did do some good things defensively at times,” said veteran Versailles coach Travis Swank. “We just have to be more consistent.”
The Tigers struck early when 6’8” junior Maddox Stonebraker drilled a 3-pointer at the 7:11 mark for a quick 3-0 lead. Celina briefly moved in front 4-3 before Versailles surged ahead. A late first-quarter three from Kade Schwartz pushed the Tigers to a 20-10 advantage after eight minutes.
Drake Ahrens paced Versailles with 9 first-quarter points, including a trey and a perfect 2-for-2 at the line. Stonebraker knocked down two 3-pointers, Schwartz added one, and Reed Ratterman contributed a bucket.
“I thought they handled themselves pretty well,” Swank said of his four junior starters. “It didn’t seem like the lights were too bright for them. We were really motoring there in the first quarter. They understood their assignments and knocked down some shots for us early. They played hard— all of our kids played hard.”
The teams played even basketball in the second quarter, 14-14, with Ahrens continuing to lead the Tigers offensively. Versailles carried a 34-24 advantage into halftime.
“They had a run there toward the end of the first half,” Swank noted. “They scored eight points in two and a half minutes. That was a third of the points they scored in the first half. We weren’t in very good help position on their ball-altering action— we’ll clean that up.”
Celina battled back midway through the third to trim the lead to 42-35, but Versailles responded. Ahrens and Blake Monnin scored seven points each in the quarter, fueling a 10-4 run that pushed the lead to 52-39 heading into the fourth.
“We had a lot of bodies we were subbing in trying to speed up the game a little bit,” said Swank. “Sometimes when you speed up the game, you’re going to give up a little more. We still need to not give up quite as many easy ones as we did tonight.”
Trailing by double digits late, Celina was forced to put Versailles on the free-throw line. The Tigers closed out the final period 12-10, hitting an impressive 10-of-11 at the stripe to seal a 15-point season-opening win.
Versailles’ 6’3” senior Drake Ahrens led all scorers with a game-high 25 points.
“We’ll take that out of him every night,” Swank said of his lone senior starter. “He makes other guys better out there. He has some phenomenal reads, seeing guys open. He has worked hard on his shot, and that is only going to expand his game going forward.”
BOXSCORE:
VERSAILLES 64, CELINA 49
VERSAILLES – D. Ahrens 25, R. Raterman 9, K. Schwartz 8, B. Monnin 7, M. Stonebraker 6, E. Wilker 4, C. Ahrens 2, S. Hess 2, J. Borchers 1 – TOTALS 15 16-19 6 64
CELINA – G. Wicker 14, P. Wynk 11, L. Billerman 11, C. Schlater 8, C. Harter 3, L. Kerns 1, H. Grieshop 1 – TOTALS 13 8-16 5 49
3-POINTERS
Versailles 6 (M. Stonebraker 2, K. Schwartz 1, D. Ahrens 1, R. Raterman 1, B. Monnin 1)
Celina 5 (P. Wynk 3, G. Wicker 2)
SCORE by QUARTERS
20-14-18-12 64 Versailles
10-14-15-10 49 Celina
