Timing is everything

LIMA - There are no bonus points for leading a basketball game for an extended period of time.

Celina led for just the final 12.5 seconds of the game thanks to two free throws from Quinn Andrew as the Bulldogs rallied to defeat Kenton 36-34 in the Division II boys basketball sectional semifinal at Lima Senior High School on Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs (8-15) return to Lima on Friday to face St. Marys for the second time in just over a week at 5:30 p.m. for a berth to Ohio Northern and district play.

"I said early on, we'd win some games, but they won't be pretty," said Celina coach Adam Johns. "We didn't shoot the ball well (24.4% from the floor in the game), but Quinn had a big bucket in the fourth quarter that got us going."

The teams played overtime ball in their league meeting on Jan. 7 with Celina getting the 60-54 win after Kenton led for long stretches of the game.

The Wildcats jumped out early on Celina, leading 10-2 with 4 1/2 minutes elapsed in the first quarter. Celina was not ready to concede, working its way back to tie the game at 17-all with 3:46 remaining in the first half on a Josh Rasawehr bucket. Kenton got back up by six at 23-17 but free throws from Dylan Feister and Rasawehr trimmed the margin to 23-21 at the break.

"We got some second chances and converted on those second chances," said Johns. "That was important."

The Bulldogs got their second tie of the night early in the third quarter on a Connor Altstaetter layup, but Kenton ran off a 9-0 run on a Kooper Johnston bucket, four straight free throws from Jarrett Jolliff and then a trey from Colby Quay with 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter to put the Wildcats up nine. Rasawehr hit the front end of a two-shot foul to end the run, then, after the Bulldogs got the offensive board, got a bunny to fall with a second left to leave the Bulldogs trailing 32-26 heading to the fourth quarter.

Jacob Ray scored a bucket with 7:01 to play in regulation to make it 32-28, then both teams' defenses began to step it up, creating a scoreless run of over 3 1/2 minutes before Andrew knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:20 to play to get Celina to within one at 32-31. Kenton snapped its own cold spell 12 seconds later on a Trevor Robinson layup to make it 34-31.

After trading turnovers, Andrew hit one free throw with 93 seconds to play to make it a two-point margin. The Bulldogs looked to foul and sent Johnston to the line with 1:09 to play for a one-and-one. Johnston missed and Rasawehr rebounded as Celina looked to get the equalizer, which came on an Andrew stickback with 26 seconds to go to tie the game at 34-all.

Kenton called a timeout with 16 seconds to play and took it out underneath its own basket. The Wildcats tried a long pass to midcourt, but Andrew channeled his inner defensive back, intercepted the ball and headed to the Celina basket, drawing a foul with 12.5 seconds to play. Andrew, a 50% free throw shooter during the regular season, calmly sank both free throws to give Celina its first lead of the night.

After a Celina timeout, Kenton tried to get the tying bucket, but turned it over with 5.3 seconds remaining. Rasawehr was fouled on the inbound, but missed the front end of the one-and-one. Kenton had one last chance to score, but threw it out of bounds with two-tenths of a second remaining, leaving Celina with nothing to do but touch the ball on its inbounds to end the game.

"We got stops nearly that entire quarter," said Johns. "Hold a team to two points, you're doing something right defensively."

Rasawehr was 7-of-9 from the foul line en route to a 13-point, 15-rebound night for the Bulldogs. Andrew added 10 points.

Jolliff led Kenton (4-17) with eight points. Gavin Payne finished with seven, but was held scoreless in the second half.

Now comes round two of the Battle of Grand Lake, this time on neutral ground. St. Marys, who was in attendance for Wednesday's game, won the first round 59-37 in Auglaize County.

"That's kind of a blessing with our schedule. We played last Saturday and tonight, so we've played a little bit," said Johns. "It's nice to get a game under our belt here."