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Braves leave no doubt in championship effort |
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By BRAD MORRIS
Herald Sports Editor |
ATHENS - Gold over silver is what
Logan Elm coach Doug Stiverson preached to
the Braves before their district championship game against Fairfield
Union
Saturday.
Message sent, message acted upon.
Led by 20 points from senior Kyle Reichelderfer and a defense that
limited
Fairfield Union to just nine baskets, Logan Elm left no doubt as to who
would take the gold trophy, symbolizing a district championship, by
routing
Fairfield Union 55-28 Saturday at the Ohio University Convocation
Center.
“We didn¹t get a chance to put up Mid-State League numbers (on a banner)
again, but we get to put up Southeast District numbers,” Logan Elm
senior
Kyle Reichelderfer said, “That’s even better, because it’s in the whole
state. Going to the Sweet 16 is something special.”
The Logan Elm ended a 43-year drought dating back to 1963 without a
district championship for the Braves and also earned coach Doug
Stiverson
his 100th career win in the process.
“Looking back at some of the heartbreak we’ve had in the last couple of
years, getting this title finally feels good,” Stiverson said. “A lot of
people have been part of this from the first year I started here.
“It has been a long process from going to the sectional title game four
years ago and then the year after that go to the district tournament and
get
a taste of the Convo.
“After that Greenfield got us and then last year we got to the district
championship game.” “Getting to this point has involved a lot of great
people, great coaches and great players to get to this special moment.”
Logan Elm (19-5) gained the early lead, using a pair of jumpers from
Evan
Blake and a turnaround one-handed shot by Jamie Morris to take a 10-4
lead
after the first quarter.
The Braves basically put away Fairfield Union (14-10) in the second
quarter by shooting an effective seven for 11 during the quarter (63
percent).
Reichelderfer led Logan Elm in a 9-0 run by driving down the lane for a
pair of buckets and canning a three-pointer just left of the top of the
key
to put the Braves up 19-6.
”My shots just started to fall. I wasn’t finishing down low in the first
quarter so I kept just going at it,” Reichelderfer said. “After I got
the
first few going down I started feeling pretty good about my shot.”
After a layup by Fairfield Union standout Jared Larson that stopped the
Logan Elm run, Chris Leasure and Reichelderfer buried back-to-back
three-pointers and then Leasure added a long jumper to put the Braves up
27-10 at the half.
“At the beginning of the second quarter, they went into a
triangle-and-two
and Jamie hit a big shot for us,” Stiverson said. “Then Chris hits one
in
the corner and that forces them right back out of it.”
Logan Elm only allowed Fairfield Union to shoot five for 21 from the
field
in the first half, including holding Larson to just a bucket in a one
for
eight shooting half.
"They played good defense and we didn't get an open look all night,"
Fairfield Union coach Keith Barr said. “... I told the kids, if we
aren't
able to hit an outside jumper, it's going to be a long day. “We kept
trying
to pound it in and Logan Elm had us bottled up in there, and then we
couldn't hit the jumper from the outside.
"They were very conscious of taking away our inside game, knowing that
all
year we haven't shot the ball well from the perimeter,” Barr added.
And unlike the first two meetings were the Fairfield Union post team of
Chase Burge and Willie Boch dominated the paint, the Braves held the
pair to
just a combined 11 points and allowed Fairfield Union only 38 field goal
attempts for the game with the Falcons making just nine (24 percent).
“Boch and Burge gave us a lot of trouble during the season, and we knew
that was a key to shut them down, along with Larson,” Morris said. ³Me
and
Cody (Leist) have been pounding it all week ... but we kept at it, boxed
out
and played our hearts out.”
The Braves turned to Morris in the third for seven of the team’s 13
points
during the period on a pair of layups, jumper and free throw.
“Coach has been telling me all week to shoot with confidence,” Morris
said.
“Everything came together well for me in the game and I was able to hit
shots.”
While holding the Fairfield Union offense in check, Logan Elm converted
20
of 41 shots for the game (49 percent).
Willie Boch led Fairfield Union with eight points as Larson was held to
just four points for the game and shot just one of 10 during the night.
“Kyle really thrives upon the challenge of guarding the other team’s
best
player,” Stiverson said. “He did a nice job tonight, but it was also a
team
thing.”
“Larson puts it on the floor a lot to get into the paint and our team
did
well collapsing on him. We wanted to make him throw the ball to some of
their other perimeter guys and make them beat us and not him.”
Morris had 14 points to join Reichelderfer in double figures for the
Braves.
Reichelderfer and Blake each led Logan Elm with six rebounds as the
Braves
outrebounded Fairfield Union by a 33-22 count.
LE returns to the Convo Thursday to open up Sweet 16 action against
Zanesville High School (16-7).
The Blue Devils advanced to the district by beating Carrollton 62-42
this
past Wednesday.
In the first game, DeSales and Harrison meet for a 6:15 p.m. tip-off.
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