Redskins play it smoothly for title

COLDWATER - St. Henry didn't need a big scoring run to pull away from Coldwater in the championship game of the Asset Allocation Associations.

All that was needed was a steady strong flow of play for the Redskins to win the tournament for the third time in the six-year history with a 62-49 win over the host Cavaliers at the Palace on Saturday night.

In the consolation game, Marion Local opened the game with a 20-2 run and never looked back in beating Celina 49-31 to keep the Bulldogs winless this season.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
St. Henry 62, Coldwater 49

The start of the game had the appearance of a shootout between the rivals along State Route 118. Ryan Bruening knocked down a three-pointer to put St. Henry in front 5-3 with 6:22 left in the opening quarter. While the Cavaliers weren't able to get any closer than two points the rest of the game, the Redskins could never put away the Cavaliers. A quick run allowed St. Henry to go up 11-3, only to have Myles Blasingame convert the hoop-and-harm three-point play to cut it to 11-6. The trend continued through the third quarter: Coldwater reduced the deficit, only to have St. Henry hit connect on shots to increase its margin.

"Defensively, I was proud of the guys for sticking with it. (Coldwater) got a few more offensive rebounds than what I would have liked," St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck said. "Defense kept the lead in our hands."

"They hit shots and executed, and we'd turn the ball over," Coldwater coach Nick Fisher said, referring to the Cavaliers' 20 turnovers in the game. That's the bottom line.

"The turnovers turned into quick turnarounds for (St. Henry). We were giving up layups. Can't turn the ball over that many times."

Down 27-21 at halftime, Coldwater tried to jump out quickly as Cole Frilling knocked down a three-pointer to make it 27-24 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.

Then Tyler Schlarman, who had just six points in the first half, took control with a three-pointer. Schlarman scored 10 of the Redskins' 12 points in the third quarter to put St. Henry up 39-32. In the fourth quarter, Schlarman was fully in control, scoring 14 of the team's 23 points as the Redskins finally were able to shrug off the Cavaliers enough to get a double digit lead and hold on for the win.

"Tyler stepped up and had a huge game," Rosenbeck said of his senior. "When he hits perimeter shots, that puts (opposing teams) in a bad spot because he's so explosive. Then (there were) guys like Zack Niekamp, who had a big weekend, and Ryan Bruening, who took care of the basketball and knocked down free throws."

"We tried to run a set offense and screen or an open play and didn't move." Fisher said, "That's fixable."

Quietly, and while playing in some foul trouble in the second half, Schlarman finished with a game-high 30 points thanks to a perfect 5-of-5 night from the three-point line and 9-of-12 from the foul line. Schlarman's 44-point effort in the tournament earned him the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award.

Zach Niekamp added 10 points.

Marcus Bruns led Coldwater with 13 points. Frilling added 12.
CONSOLATION GAME
Marion Local 49, Celina 31

The cold weather outside the Palace was about as chilly as Celina's shooting against the Flyers, especially in the first half when Celina was just 4-of-27 (14.8 percent) from the field, including missing all seven three-point attempts.

In the first 75 seconds of play, Marion had a slim 3-2 lead on Celina, but the Bulldogs went nearly 8 1/2 minutes between points in the first half as the Flyers went on a 17-0 run to take a 20-2 lead with 6:33 left in the first half. Corbin Murphy finally ended the skid with a bucket, but the Bulldogs scored just four more points in the half to trail 26-8 at halftime.

Celina shot a little better in the second half, but the Flyers cranked up its offense as well. Marion shot over 60 percent from the floor in the second half to counter every Bulldog point.

Tyler Mescher was 10-of-12 from the floor to finish with a game-high 22 points. Nathan Bruns added nine points.

Kole Murlin led Celina with eight points.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Joining Schlarman on the All-Tournament Team were Zach Niekamp from St. Henry, Marcus Bruns and Frilling from Coldwater, Nathan Bruns and Mescher from Marion Local and Murlin from Celina.
NEXT GAMES

Marion Local returns to action tonight when Bradford comes to the Hangar. The Flyers travel to New Bremen to resume MAC action on Friday.

Coldwater hosts New Knoxville on Friday, Celina travels to Elida and St. Henry hosts Fort Recovery.