It’s the third year in a row Kenton Ridge will face the Lumberjacks in the postseason. Oakwood ended Kenton Ridge’s season on a last-second layup last season, while KR eliminated Oakwood in 2024.
In the second game, No. 12 Thurgood Marshall pulled away from No. 11 Bethel in the third quarter en route to a 65-56 victory. They advanced to face second-seeded Alter at 6 p.m. Thursday at Xenia.
The Knights beat Thurgood 74-27 last season.
Kenton Ridge 72, Meadowdale 52
KR senior Xavier White had 15 points, junior Brennan Shaffer had 13 and senior Caleb Hall added 10 for the Cougars, who improved to 15-8.
Kenton Ridge jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and extended it to 16-5 on a 3-pointer by junior Bryndyn Parsons. They never trailed in the game.
“I think we played really well,” said Cougars coach Brian Smith. “We hope we’re peaking or getting closer (to peaking) now. We hit some shots and we really moved the ball well. When we’re moving the ball, we’re hard to stop. I think we’ve got a lot of players who can score. We had a lot of bench points tonight that we haven’t had all year.”
Kenton Ridge went on a 15-4 run to start the second quarter capped by a 3-pointer by Will Rastatter to grab a 31-9 lead. They led 35-14 at the half.
The Lions never got closer than 18 points in the second half. KR used a full-court man-to-man press to slow down the tempo. They also played a 2-3 zone to clog the middle and force Meadowdale to shoot the ball from deep.
“We wanted to put a press on, but we didn’t want to pressure necessarily to increase their speed,” Smith said. “We wanted to slow them down on defense, and we wanted to speed them up when we were on offense.”
“We sat in a zone there against them and just kind of encouraged some of their shots and just kept them out of the paint because they do rebound well,” Smith said.
Meadowdale senior Jamaal Scott had 15 points and freshman Joseph Pattson had 11 for the Lions, which finished its season 3-19.
They’ll face a tough task against Oakwood (16-6), which finished second in the Southwest Buckeye League Buckeye Division. The Lumberjacks won 13 straight games before dropping back-to-back games to Trotwood Madison and Waynesville.
“They’re a very good team that’s in a very good conference,” Smith said. “They’re playing really well. It’s gonna be a challenge for us. We hope to just survive and advance. It’s a little cliche, but we’re gonna get to work. We’ve got a couple days to get ready for them, and we’re gonna be ready.”
“We’re going to prepare like heck,” Smith said. “We’re excited for it, the kids are excited. We played them two years in a row and they were just great battles. Now we’ve got to get to work.”
Thurgood Marshall 65, Bethel 56
Thurgood Marshall senior Jamarion Nelson scored a season-high 28 points for the Cougars, who improved to 7-14.
“They played very well tonight,” said Thurgood coach Travis Hogue. “You know, this being my second year as a varsity coach, it’s really exciting coaching these kids. They really played and we came out with a (win) tonight. We’ve got a tall task (against Alter) Thursday, but on any given day, anybody can be beat.
“(Alter) is a phenomenal team,” Hogue said. “The guys have a little bit of history there. Very, very talented team, very well coached.”
While Nelson sparked Thurgood on the scoreboard, many of his points came from the defensive end.
“Defensively, he’s super, super tenacious,” Hogue said. “I think that’s probably his most valuable asset. Of course, he showed he can score the ball tonight. But defensively, I think it’s where he set himself apart from a few guards in our conference. He really competes well on both ends of the floor.”
The Bees took a 32-29 lead early in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by junior Rueger Harrah but the Cougars reclaimed the lead at 38-26 with a 9-4 run capped by a 3-point play by Nelson.
A layup by sophomore Robert Thomasson made it 46-38, forcing a Bethel timeout. Thomasson had 12 points and Gio Appleberry added 10 for Thurgood.
The Cougars led by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter. Bethel cut the lead to eight points with about two minutes remaining on two free throws by junior Brody Kohorst.
Hogue called a timeout to help his team regain focus. Back-to-back layups by sophomore Jayson Wilson-Martin and Nelson made 65-53, sealing the win for the Cougars.
“It really helped,” Hogue said. “Basketball is a game of runs. (Bethel coach Steve Pittman) made some really good adjustments. We gave up a couple easy ones, which we didn’t intend to do, obviously, but, you know, we burned a quick timeout to make sure that we compose ourselves, gather our thoughts, and get back on the same page. They were able to come out and continue to compete.”
Bethel sophomore Brennan Montgomery had 14 points, Kohorst had 11 and Harrah and Cooper Means each had 10. The Bees finished the season 7-15.
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