Maintaining momentum

COLDWATER - Both Celina and Coldwater came into Saturday's game after big wins on Friday, but one came out firing on all cylinders and the other stumbled out of the gate.

Coldwater started the game on a 13-0 run and led by double-digits most of the way in a 57-37 boys basketball win over Celina at the Palace.

The Cavaliers followed up a buzzer-beater victory over New Bremen on Friday with a strong performance against the Bulldogs, scoring double digits in every quarter and shooting nearly 50% from the field.

"A couple weeks ago we had a good win on Friday and didn't play very well on Saturday," Coldwater coach Nick Fisher said. "I think we've got some youth, and that grind is hard to understand, more the mental part than the physical part. I was proud of them. We challenged them to be mentally ready. Physically, you're going to be a little sore from last night, because it was a tough game, but I thought the start we had was a feel-good moment for us coaches."

Celina (1-10), for its part, followed up its first win of the season with early struggles that proved too much to overcome.

"We came out a little flat, had some mistakes in the first quarter, things that slowed us down - not turnovers, more like bad shots, we didn't talk defensively," Celina coach Adam Johns said. "The emphasis moving forward to Monday when we play Jefferson, we have to do a better job communicating defensively. We gave away too many easy looks because we weren't matched up, or we didn't talk in transition, which usually we're good at."

Luke Schwieterman got Coldwater (6-4) started with an early layup, then was on the spot for a backside rebound and a putback to double the lead. He added a free throw after a Braylon Gabes foul, then fired a pass to Justin Kaup in the left corner, and Kaup drained a three to extend the lead to eight.

Brady Lefeld added a pair of free throws, Blade Buschur hit a layup and Marcel Blasingame made a free throw before Jake Knapke hit a close-range shot off an inbounds pass to get Celina on the board.

"It's a luxury to have that many guys that are more than capable of contributing," Fisher said. "I think the guys have bought in, I think we're going in the right direction."

Grant Duncan's trey brought the Bulldogs within 10 to end the first quarter, and at the start of the second he took another from the right wing that rolled across the rim, bounced straight up and fell through to make it 15-8.

Blasingame responded with a bucket, Lefeld hit a three with a hand in his face, and Blasingame got a long pass from Evan Harlamert for a transition layup to make it 22-8 with 5:20 left in the half. Schwieterman added a pair of buckets to stretch the lead to 18 before the Bulldogs got four points back.

Celina's offense heated up in the second half, with Braylon and Caleb Gabes getting to the line and driving the paint for layups and short jumpers, but Lefeld hit a pair of threes and Kaup added another to keep the Cavaliers well ahead. After Braylon Gabes converted a hoop-and-harm with 2:51 left in the third, Schwieterman hit another layup and Baylen Blockberger drained a trey from the top of the key to put Coldwater up by 19 to start the fourth quarter.

The Gabes brothers and Isaac Rasawehr got Celina's offense going again with more looks in the paint, but Coldwater shot 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the fourth to close it out.

"When we attack, we're obviously in a better situation," Johns said. "Even against pressure, we're so guard-oriented, we can still attack, finish, dump it down and get layups out of it, and they'll back it off a little bit. Then, obviously, the more you attack the more you're going to get to the foul line too, and we need all of those opportunities we can get too… I'll guess, the majority of the shots that we made were inside the lane."

Schwieterman finished with a game-high 20 points, shooting 8-of-11 from the field with seven rebounds and four blocks.

"I think he's one of the guys we can lean on a little bit on both sides, offensively and defensively," Fisher said. "He allows us to go out and extend our defense a little bit, because he's in the lane to protect and does a fabulous job with that. I don't know what he had tonight for sure, but last night he had six blocks and I bet he altered six or seven more shots, and I saw the same thing tonight."

Lefeld added 13 points for the Cavaliers. Braylon Gabes paced the Bulldogs with 11.

Celina gets a chance to bounce back tonight with a trip to Delphos Jefferson. Coldwater returns to action on Friday when Fort Recovery comes to town for a Midwest Athletic Conference game.