VERSAILLES – The Versailles Tigers handled a deliberate, slowdown attack from the Ft. Loramie Redskins, grinding out a 42-28 non-conference home victory Tuesday night behind disciplined defense and a strong performance from junior center Maddox Stonebraker.
“Very happy,” Versailles coach Travis Swank said of his team’s defensive effort. “They helped us out a little bit because they’re more deliberate on the offensive end and try to take some time off. We tried to speed them up as much as possible. I thought we caused some havoc. We wore them down at times.”
“They took some early shots, especially in the first half, which they didn’t want to do, and we made them burn two timeouts because of that,” he added. “Our game plan was to get them sped up. They want to be slow and deliberate out there.”
Ft. Loramie struck first for a 2-0 lead before Versailles answered with eight unanswered points to go up 8-2 at the 3:30 mark. Stonebraker powered the opening frame with seven points—including a three-pointer—leading the Tigers to an 11-3 advantage after one.
“He ran the floor really well, even in transition, and that’s how he got himself going early on,” Swank said of his 6’8” junior. “If he keeps moving and cutting instead of settling for threes, he’s going to score inside because he moves faster than he looks. He’ll continue to grow and expand his game as the season goes on.”
Versailles pushed its lead to double digits at 18-7 midway through the second quarter thanks to a Blake Monnin finish at the rim, then carried a 24-11 lead into halftime. Drake Ahrens paced the Tigers in the second period with five points.
A reverse layup by Cam Ahrens at the 4:07 mark of the third quarter stretched the margin to 31-13. Six different Tigers scored in the third as Versailles maintained control and entered the final period leading 37-24.
The fourth quarter remained low-scoring, with Versailles edging the frame 5-4 to seal the 14-point win.
“I’m happy getting a 14-point lead, but we want to develop that mentality of, hey, let’s not settle for that 14-15 point lead,” Swank said. “Let’s really go out there and assert our will. If we can do that, we’re going to be a little bit better team.”
Stonebraker led all scorers with 14 points, while Ahrens and Monnin also reached double figures with 10 each.
BOX SCORE
VERSAILLES 42, FT. LORAMIE 28
VERSAILLES – M. Stonebraker 14, D. Ahrens 10, B. Monnin 10, K. Schwartz 4, E. Wilker 2, C. Ahrens 2 – TOTALS 17 5-8 1 42
LORAMIE – T. Heckman 9, L. Drees 8, T. Eilerman, DJ Barhorst 3, E. Grillot 2 – TOTALS 10 5-9 1 28
3-POINTERS
Versailles 1 (M. Stonebraker 1)
Ft. Loramie 1 (DJ Barhorst 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
11-13-13-05 42 Versailles
03-08-13-04 28 Ft. Loramie
