Not packing it in

CELINA - The Battle of Grand Lake lived up to its title on Friday night at the Fieldhouse.

St. Marys rallied from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter, took a lead in the fourth quarter, and then watched Celina rally the game into overtime.

The Bulldogs took over in the extra session and fended off the Roughriders to pick up a 48-45 victory in the rivalry.

"Credit to the kids. Some cases when you've been in a rut like we have, you might pack it in," said Celina coach Adam Johns after getting the win over his alma mater. "This was the seniors' last game (at the Fieldhouse). Played pretty well."

Celina gets its first win over St. Marys since Feb. 27, 2018, at the Division II sectional at Findlay. The last regular season win came a year earlier at the Fieldhouse on Feb. 3, 2017, when the Bulldogs won, coincidentally, 48-45.

Coming in, it shaped up as a question of which team could contain the other's big man, with Celina's Josh Rasawehr battling in the paint with St. Marys' Austin Parks.

With the two negating each other inside, the two teams turned to others to get points. Reeves Black took the task for Celina early, scoring seven in the first half while LeTrey Williams had five as Celina took a 20-17 lead into halftime.

Parks and Jadin Davis had back-to-back buckets to start the third quarter to put St. Marys in front 21-20, but Parks was called for a technical after swatting away a shot. Rasawehr hit free throws, and then on the ensuing possession scored to give Celina a 24-21 lead. After a Roughrider turnover, Quade Gilmore added a bucket, then Jack Duncan knocked down back-to-back treys to give Celina a 32-23 lead. Not to be left out, Quinn Andrew hit a 3-pointer to give Celina its biggest lead of the night at 35-23.

"Celina played hard. They made shots," said St. Marys coach Dan Hegemier. "We did not. We wanted to throw the ball inside or take one pass and one shot. I told them in the middle of the first quarter that wasn't going to cut it. I told them in the middle of the second quarter it wouldn't cut it and I told them at halftime that wasn't going to cut it."

The Roughriders had another issue as Parks picked up his fourth personal with 2:45 remaining in the third and had to sit. Williams stepped up, getting a hoop-and-harm 3-point play followed by three straight treys to get St. Marys to within two at 37-35 at the end of the quarter.

Starting the fourth, Brandon Sullivan hit a trey 25 seconds in to give St. Marys the lead once again at 38-37. Then the scoring came to a standstill as both teams ratcheted up the defense with neither team scoring for nearly seven minutes.

"It felt like we were down one for the longest time," said Johns about the fourth quarter. "I looked at the bench one time and asked 'Have we scored yet?' I even lost count."

Forced to foul, Celina put Parks on the line with 47.2 seconds. Parks made both free throws to make it a three-point game. Celina worked the ball around with Black getting the ball at the top of the arc and draining a trey to tie the game with 17.5 seconds left. St. Marys looked to get an alley-oop pass inside to Davis, but Gilmore got the steal. Andrew tried a trey from the corner, but missed and the game went into overtime.

"We told them it's a four-minute game. We have to keep playing and defending," said Johns on what he said to the team before the overtime. "That's what I've been saying all year. You can't get wrapped into everything else."

Parks put St. Marys ahead first in the extra session, but Black knotted the game again seconds later. Parks was fouled and hit one of two from the line to make it 43-42 with 2:30 remaining. The Bulldogs worked the ball inside in hopes of getting Parks to pick up his fifth foul, but while Parks played tough, Rasawehr scored to give Celina the lead at 44-43. After a Roughrider miss, Rasawehr scored again to raise the lead to 46-43 with 66 seconds to go.

Duncan hit a free throw to make it 47-43 with 35.5 seconds remaining, which proved crucial as Williams scored with 25 seconds remaining to cut the margin to two. Black was fouled with 11.7 seconds left and made one of two from the line to force the Roughriders to make a 3 to tie the game again. The Riders worked the ball to Williams, who tried a trey but missed the mark as Gilmore pulled down the board to send Celina players and the students able to attend into a celebration.

"Give credit to the kids. They battled through it all," said Johns. "Pretty fun tonight. We had a pretty good atmosphere. That's what high school basketball is."

"Our team right now basically depends on one guy to do everything," said Hegemier. "We have to try and straighten that out quick."

Black finished with 13 to lead Celina. Rasawehr had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Duncan added 10 points. Gilmore pulled down 10 rebounds.

"Everybody made plays to knock some shots down," said Johns.

Williams finished with 17 for St. Marys. Parks added 13 and eight rebounds.

Both teams are on the road tonight. Celina travels to Herr Gymnasium to face the Lima Central Catholic Thunderbirds while St. Marys heads to Fort Loramie, where Hegemier guided the Redskins to state titles in 1987 and 1993.