VANDALIA – The state’s No. 1-ranked Russia Lady Raiders defeated the Ridgedale Lady Rockets 45-28 in the first round of the OHSAA Division VII regional tournament play at Vandalia-Butler High School, but not before Ridgedale made things interesting in the opening quarter.
“I thought we executed well offensively,” said Russia coach Michael Bashore. “We missed some easy ones.”
Russia took control early, claiming the opening period 16-10 behind nine points from Celeste Borchers, including a three-pointer.
“That first quarter, Celeste Borchers was all over the place — offensively, rebounds, getting points,” Bashore said. “She carried over into the second half. She has been stepping up big in the last couple of weeks of the season.”
The Lady Raiders’ defense took over in the second quarter. Russia clamped down defensively and shut out Ridgedale for the entire period while putting together a 13-0 scoring run to take a commanding 29-10 lead into the halftime break. Five Russia players contributed points during the decisive second-quarter surge.
“Defensively, the second quarter was much better than the first,” Bashore said. “We were just sloppy tonight. They play really hard, they’ve had a nice season so far, but we’ve kind of got used to not having to play anybody for a while. We earned that one seed by our schedule and how we played during the season, but we weren’t clicking tonight. We went in spurts, but we have to do a better job, especially starting Saturday when you have to play your best game to win every one.”
Russia continued its dominant play in the third quarter, outscoring Ridgedale 11-5 to extend its lead to 40-15 heading into the final period. Aryana Cordonnier sparked the Raiders’ offense in the quarter with eight points, including a three-pointer.
“Aryana had a little bit of a go there in the third quarter,” Bashore said. “She did a nice job.”
With the game well in hand, Bashore emptied his bench in the fourth quarter. Ridgedale took advantage and outscored Russia 13-5 in the final frame, but the Raiders still cruised to the 17-point regional tournament victory.
“I played here,” Bashore said of the Butler High School facility. “This is not an easy environment to shoot the basketball in, especially coming right off the bus and getting ready to play.”
Russia converted 10 of 16 free throws for 62.5 percent from the line while Ridgedale finished 12-for-14 for 85.7 percent.
“Our intensity has to ratchet up a little more because no matter who we’re playing Saturday, they’re going to get after it,” Bashore said. “We have a big target on our back being No. 1 in the state, so we have to come to play.”
Russia will return to Butler High School on Saturday, March 7, to play the Cedarville Lady Indians for the regional title, with a 5 p.m. tipoff.
BOX SCORE:
RUSSIA 45, RIDGEDALE 28
RUSSIA – A. Cordonnier 13, C. Borchers 13, H. Francis 7, C. Schafer 4, C. Goubeaux 3, K. Doseck 3, F. York 2 – TOTALS 10 10-16 5 45
RIDGEDALE – M. McKenzie 14, C. Thiel 7, R. Gleespen 5, J. Slaughterbeck 2 – TOTALS 5 12-14 2 28
3-POINTERS
Russia 5 (A. Cordonnier 2, C. Goubeaux 1, C. Borchers 1, C. Schafer 1)
Ridgedale 2 (R. Gleespen 1, C. Thiel 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
16-13-11-05 45 Russia
10-00-05-13 28 Ridgedale
