Flyers, Redskins advance to final

COLDWATER - The sequels were better than the originals.

But the results were the same.

St. Henry came-from-behind to defeat Coldwater 60-58 in Friday's first semifinal of the Asset Allocation Association to extend its winning streak in the Backyard Battle to 15 games and defeat the Cavaliers for a second time this season. On Dec. 15, Marion Local defeated Celina 76-45. The Flyers had a tougher time with the Bulldogs on Friday, but they locked down defensively and pulled away for a 49-33 victory.

The Redskins and Flyers will matchup in tonight's final that will begin around 7:30 p.m. The Cavaliers and Bulldogs meet in the consolation game at 6 p.m.

St. Henry 60,
Coldwater 58

St. Henry's big winning streak in the Backyard Battle appeared in jeopardy after three quarters.

The Redskins erased any notion of that with a flurry of 3-pointers.

St. Henry hit four triples over a five-minute stretch spanning from late in the third to the fourth, and the Redskins held on for the victory.

"Our seniors stepped up. That's what happened," St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck said. "I think we were down 10 or 12 late in the third and they just started grinding and putting more pressure on, and shots started to fall. Once Matt Bertke hit that 3 in the third, it seemed like it kind of let the flood gates out. I think we hit about four or five (3s) there."

Ethan Thieman scored 18 points for St. Henry, which finished the game 10 of 18 from the 3-point line. Ben Evers had 11 points and Caden Niekamp added 10.

Cole Frilling totaled a game-high 19 points for Coldwater. Marcus Bruns tallied 13.

The teams met on Dec. 28 in St. Henry, with the Redskins winning 43-33. The Cavs nearly surpassed that point total in the first half on Friday.

Coldwater led for most of the opening quarter, but Evers' back-to-back 3-pointers sparked a 10-2 run by the Redskins that gave them a 12-8 advantage.

The Cavaliers tied up the game at 14-all early in the second quarter. Frilling scored four points, including a pair of free throws and the tying layup after side-stepping a defender. The lead changed hands four times in the quarter. Evers tied the score at 27-all with his third 3 of the half, but Myles Blasingame returned the lead to Coldwater with a jumper just before halftime.

Coldwater extended its lead to 11 points in the third quarter as it kept on pace to shoot 50 percent. The Cavs were 19 of 38 from the field after the frame. Bertke's last-second 3-pointer cut the advantage to 48-40 to end the third.

Thieman started the fourth quarter with another St. Henry triple, and a floater by Evers made the score 48-45. With six minutes to play, Thieman tied the score at 48-all with a corner-pocket 3.

And the treys continued to fall for St. Henry. Jay Knapke knocked one down to send the Redskins ahead. Then Thieman buried another 3 and added a bucket in the paint for a six-point cushion.

The Cavs weren't done, though.

Marcus Bruns' 3 cut the score to 56-53 with 1:36 left. The Redskins scored out of the four-corner offense, as Zach Niekamp found Knapke for a wide-open layup. Frilling scored to keep it a one-possession game for Coldwater, but the Cavs missed a chance at the foul line to cut into the lead anymore. Zach Niekamp's two free throws iced the game with under five seconds to play.

"We feel like in the fourth quarter that we just didn't execute," Coldwater coach Nick Fisher said. "I thought we came out of the fourth-quarter huddle and we didn't defend for the first two possessions. It was just bad defensive execution at a critical time. We were up eight at the time. I thought offensively, there's things we're doing much better, but there's also things that we need to continue to clean up. As the game wore on, the things that at times we don't do real well offensively came back to bite us."

Marion Local 49,
Celina 33

Marion Local coach Kurt Goettemoeller knew Celina would give his team a better game than the first time around.

Sure enough, the Bulldogs did.

Celina led in the third quarter and the game was tied at 26-apiece, but Marion finished with a 23-7 run.

"They had fresher legs and they were much more prepared for us," Goettemoeller said. "I thought they were very good defensively and made us struggle a lot on offense. But Nick Tangeman's energy early in the game really helped us because we weren't making a ton of shots and he was getting a ton of offensive boards. He got a lot of points to get us out to a little bit of a lead. His effort was important."

Tangeman finished the night with 10 rebounds, with more than half of them coming on the offensive glass. He also tallied seven points in the game.

The Flyers hit three 3s in the opening quarter as they built a 16-8 lead. Celina, however, cut into the deficit during a sloppy second quarter that featured a combined nine turnovers. Drake Langenkamp scored four in the frame for the Bulldogs, who faced a 21-16 deficit at halftime.

The score was leveled at 21-all early in the third after Brandon Yenser's 3 and two free throws by Drake Langenkamp. Soon after, Celina claimed the lead on a triple by Brett Schwieterman.

The score was tied at 26-all and then the Flyers finished the third quarter on a 9-2 run, with Nate Bruns providing four points, assisting Matt Rethman for a bucket and Max Albers knocking down a 3.

Marion Local opened up a 15-point advantage by the halfway mark of the fourth.

"They picked up their pressure in the half-court defense," Celina coach Jay Imwalle said. "It bothered us a little bit, and I think we got a little stagnant and kind of quit moving with a purpose. We were moving but not really with a purpose. I'm proud of heck with our effort and how we played. We just went through that spell where we couldn't score. They had a lot to do with that."

Bruns finished with a game-high 18 points for the Flyers. Rethman added 10 points.

Langenkamp led all Celina scorers with 10 points.