DAYTON – A large percentage of the population of Shelby County was in attendance at Wright State’s Nutter Center Saturday afternoon for high school boys basketball regional championship tilts. Three of the seven teams in the venerable Shelby County League were joined by the Flyers of Marion Local as berths in the OHSAA state semifinals were at stake. The first game of the day saw Cincinnati Summit Country Day pound Clark Montesorri (conquerors of both Versailles and Preble Shawnee) 58-35 in the D-V title contest and punch their ticket to the Final Four.
Game two of the triple header matched the Anna Rockets against Marion Local in a D-VI clash for regional bragging rights. The Flyers jumped out to a 12-8 first quarter margin, mainly on the strength of eight points, including two three-pointers, by 6’8” senior pivot Austin Neikamp. Marion never relinquished that lead as both teams played mainly error-free basketball throughout the hard-fought contest, the Flyers going into intermission with a 29-22 lead after making ten of fifteen field goal attempts including three of five from outside the arc. The Rockets on the other side of the ledger were almost as potent, hitting nine of seventeen, but only one trey.
The second half saw Anna start to double team Niekamp, but he was able to find open teammates for good looks at the hoop, and Marion maintained a seven-point lead after three periods at 41-34. The Rockets got as close as 41-36 on a Jacob Feroze layup with 5:58 remaining but the Flyers started driving to the basket and drawing fouls that they converted to the tune of thirteen of sixteen made foul shots including nine in a row, to extend the lead back to 54-40 with less than a minute to play.
In winning 58-43, the Flyers advance to the state D-VI semifinals with a record of 25-2, while Anna sees a ten-game winning streak snapped to finish the season at 16-11, a comeback of which to be proud. Niekamp finished with 17 points, Brayden Mescher had 13, and Ryan Homan added 12 as the Flyers ended an unofficial 17 of 30 from the field and 21 of 27 from the foul line. The Rockets were paced by Evan Myers with 13 markers while Feroze had 12 as Anna converted 16 of 36 from the floor but only 2 of 10 from long range and hit 9 for 12 from the charity stripe.
Marion will be making its sixth trip to the Final Four, the first since 2018, as the Flyers seek their fourth state crown. Semifinal pairings won’t be known until Monday as a result of the change in format in going to seven divisions this year.
In the final contest of the afternoon, the mighty Russia Raiders advanced to 27-0 as they return to the state semifinals for the third consecutive year, following a 58-30 drubbing of Botkins in D-VII action. The Trojans, who have played solid defense all year, had no answer for the Raider attack as Russia unofficially connected on eleven of seventeen field goal attempts in the first half, hitting on four of five from three-point land, in racing to a 29-15 halftime lead. With Botkins up 8-4 in the early going 5’9” senior Jaxon Grogean came off the bench and ignited the Raiders with the first of his two treys as his team went on a 20-0 run to take a 24-8 lead with 4:40 remaining in the first half.
From there the Raiders steadily pulled away against a game but outmanned Trojan squad, riding another 10-0 run to eventually stretch the lead to 53-22 with a little over two minutes left.
Ben York had 18 points including four three-pointers, to lead the Raiders while Dominic Francis put up 11, Vince Borchers added 10, and Grogean finished with 8. For the Trojans, who finished the season with a 20-7 record, with three of those losses coming at the hands of Russia, senior Collin Doseck, as he has all year, paced his team with 10 points and sophomore Eli Pitts put 8 in the scorebook.
Russia’s eleven seniors now try to win that elusive first state title as they return to the Final Four. With Richmond Heights, who beat the Raiders in the semifinals each of the past two years having moved to D-V under the new state divisional breakdowns (Heights, a collection of AAU All-Stars from all over got its comeuppance in the regional finals this weekend losing to Cleveland Heights Lutheran East), Russia has a good chance to outdo even the 2002 Blue and Gold squad which lost in the championship game to Delphos St. John’s.
Like all regional champions, the Raiders won’t know until Monday who they will play and where in the state semifinals. The move to seven divisions has necessitated that semis will be announced based on proximity of schools and availability of game sites around the state. The seven title games will still be held at the University of Dayton arena on March 21-22.
