Hot shots

ST. MARYS - A third-quarter hot streak of shooting, especially from LeTrey Williams, allowed St. Marys to extend its halftime lead and pick up its 10th win of the boys basketball season with a 63-48 win over Coldwater in a Saturday matinee at Murotech Court.

Coming back after a tough loss in WBL play to Shawnee on Friday, the Roughriders shot nearly 70% from the field in the second half to reach the 10-win mark for the first time since the 2014-2015 season.

"Coldwater is a nice team. They shoot the ball very well." said St. Marys coach Dan Hegemier. "Very physical first half and shots weren't falling (9-of-23 in first half). We came in at halftime and talked a little bit about being more patient and running the ball down the floor."

Leading 24-19 at the half, the Roughriders began to find their range as Williams scored the first seven points of the half to extend his team's lead to 31-22. Austin Parks added a bunny and Williams dialed up another trey to raise it to 36-22 for a 10-0 run and prompting the Cavaliers to call a time out. The Rider run continued after the break as Williams fed the 6-8 Parks for an alley-oop dunk in front of the St. Marys student section before Will Broering snapped the Cavaliers cold spell with a bucket.

"We talked about the lapses in our defense during that run as well as the turnovers," said Coldwater coach Nick Fisher. "We have to recognize them and take care of it. It was a decent game. We didn't shoot the ball very well. Too many turnovers."

"You just want him to play," said Hegemier of Williams, who had 12 points in the third quarter. "You don't want to hold him down."

St. Marys stayed hot a little longer to raise its margin to 45-26 with 4:14 remaining in the quarter before the Cavaliers caught a hot streak of their own thank to 3-pointers from Noah Miller and Carson Muhlenkamp that trimmed the deficit to 49-39 with 18 seconds remaining in the quarter. Ethan Steger got a bunny to fall in the final two seconds to make it 51-39 going to the final quarter.  

The Cavaliers were unable to get any closer in the final quarter as the Roughriders kept the lead in the mid-teens for the rest of the contest.

"It's a good win," said Hegemier. "We're happy to be 10-3."

"I told the guys Saturday night (games) are like that," Fisher said. "We had a tough game Friday (a win over state-ranked Delphos St. John's) just like (St. Marys did), then we come back Saturday. That's hard.

"The fight's there," he added. "We're still doing things well, but not consistently well enough."

Williams finished with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 4-of-5 from the arc. Steger added 20 with Parks scoring 10.

Tyler Schwieterman scored 14 to lead Coldwater. Broering and Ethan Post each added 10.

Both teams return to action on Friday. St. Marys hosts Kenton in WBL play with Coldwater welcoming Fort Recovery to the Palace.