New Knoxville, Ada advance to district title round

WAPAKONETA - A 33-point regular season loss to Division IV defending state champion New Knoxville didn't intimidate Temple Christian on Tuesday night at Wapakoneta, where they met in a district semifinal game.

The No. 1 ranked Rangers (22-0) held off the Pioneers for a 44-35 win after Temple Christian had pulled to within six points with less than two minutes to play. The second game saw Ada set-up a rematch with those same Rangers when they bested Fort Recovery by a 56-40 score.

New Knoxville will play Ada at 7 p.m. Friday at Wapakoneta for the district championship.

Temple Christian, whose tallest starter stood at 6-foot-2, was ultimately done in by Brad Piehl, the Rangers' 6-7 postplayer, who led all scores with a game high 16 points.

The Pioneers (10-12) refused to go quietly into the night, however, after falling behind by a first period margin of 16-6. Temple bounced back with a 14-8 second quarter to pull to within 24-20 at halftime.

"Our intent was to win the game," Temple coach Bruce Bowman said. "I'm very proud of our kids; they played hard and with intelligence."

The third quarter was pivotal as the Pioneers were held scoreless and committed seven turnovers, managing just one shot from the field. However, the Pioneers clawed back to get to 38-32 with 1:55 to play but could get no closer as the Rangers connected on 7-of-9 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Piehl led the way for the Rangers while Ryan Vanderhorst added 12 points and Austin Arnett chipped in with 11.

Temple Christian was led in scoring by Tyler Sutton with 14 points while Shane Holloway added 10 for the Pioneers.

"Give them a lot of credit, they made every possession in this game a key one," New Knoxville coach Dan Hegemier said. "They are quick and handled the ball well but we played hard and any tournament win is a good win."

Ada 56
Fort Recovery 40

The nightcap saw Ada ride a hot start and a strong defense to a win over Fort Recovery.

The Bulldogs (19-3) hit 6-of-10 from the floor, including two 3-pointers, as they jumped out to a quick 15-5 lead after one period.

The Ada duo of Mitchell Faine and Aaron Cross took turns guarding Greg Kahlig, Midwest Athletic Conference player of the year. The duo stifled Kahlig for only 12 points.

"They set the tone when they were able to hit some early shots," Fort Recovery coach Brian Patch said. "Plus that is the best we have been defended all year."

The second quarter was a defensive battle and the Bulldogs went into halftime with a 23-15 lead. Ada was able to stretch that lead to a 39-28 advantage entering the final period.

The Indians (14-8) got to within 45-37 midway through the fourth before the Bulldogs answered with a 10-0 run to stretch the lead to 55-37.

 "I thought the kids stepped up tonight; we knew it would be a physical game and they responded." Ada coach Chris Sautter said.

Ada received balanced scoring as Faine led the effort with 14 points while Cross added 12 and Konnor Baker gave the Bulldogs three players with double figures as he totaled 11 points.