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The fourth-seeded Polar Bears used a stifling defense to beat No. 3 seed Kenton Ridge 54-46 in the first sectional semifinal game on Tuesday night in Springfield. Northridge (16-7) advanced to the sectional final for the second season, but are seeking its first district appearance since 2016.
“We figured we could wear them down and it worked to our advantage tonight,” Northridge coach Jeff Lisath said, “but you never know what’s going to happen the next game.”
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In the second game, second-seeded Benjamin Logan beat Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division rival Urbana 69-54.
It was the program’s first tournament win since 2005 – when Raiders coach Cam Saylor was a sophomore. The Raiders will play Northridge at 7 p.m. Friday night at Springfield High School.
“It’s been awhile,” he said. “It’s been 14 years since we had even won a tournament game. This is a big deal for the Ben Logan community.”
The Raiders (13-10) won their first-ever CBC Mad River Division title this season, the program’s first league championship since 1985. Ben Logan needs one more win to advance to the district finals for the first time in school history.
Saylor expects another tough matchup on Friday against the Polar Bears – this time with the season on the line.
“They’re going to pressure you, they’re going to run-and-jump, they’re going to be physical,” Saylor said. “We have two days to prepare for it. Northridge is a really good basketball team. We’ve never been to the districts and that’s where we want to get to at this point. I’m just so proud of our kids.”
Northridge 54, Kenton Ridge 46: Before the game, Polar Bears senior Twon Hines told Lisath he was focused and – and it showed.
The senior scored 21 of his game-high 28 points in the first half. Northridge led 26-18 at the half.
“He told me physically he was feeling good,” Lisath said. “I told him, ‘Let the game come to you.’
He was able to pick and choose his spots.”
The Polar Bears picked up the pressure in the third quarter, taking a 40-25 lead on a layup by Darryl Story, who finished the game with 11 points.
“I thought we played really well defensively,” Lisath said. “We wanted to pressure most of the game, if not the whole game. We were able to do that. I was pleased with our defensively effort.”
Kenton Ridge’s Tyler Eberhart led the Cougars with 21 points. He hit a jumper from the top of the key with about three minutes remaining to cut the Polar Bears lead to 47-37.
“We knew we had to make it a half-court game,” said Cougars coach Kris Spriggs. “They just never let you get in the flow of anything.”
Kenton Ridge used a 1-3-1 zone defense in the fourth quarter to slow down the pace, inching their way back into the game. They cut the lead to 42-36 on a layup by Ty Avery, but couldn’t get any closer.
“They didn’t give up, they kept fighting,” Spriggs said. “The guys showed a lot of character. We could’ve just folded the tent and be done, but we kept fighting. We got it down to six and just kind of ran out of time.”
Kenton Ridge finished its season 14-9.
“It was a great group of kids,” Spriggs said. I looked forward to practice each day and working to get better. Hopefully, this leaves a sour taste in our mouth so we’ll get in the gym this summer and come back better next year.”
Benjamin Logan 69, Urbana 54: Cole Jones had 25 points, hitting five 3-pointers in the first half as the Raiders took a 33-14 lead at the break. Ben Logan led by as many as 25 points in the second half.
“We really controlled the game and the pace was where we wanted it to be,” Saylor said. “As the fourth quarter came along, they ramped up the pressure and we didn’t respond very well.”
In the fourth quarter, the Hillclimbers used a full-court press to pull within eight points, but couldn’t get any closer.
A 3-pointer by Ben Logan’s Garrett Allen pushed the lead back to 12 with about three minutes remaining.
“We were able to take care of the basketball down the stretch and make free throws,” Saylor said.
Isaiah Fonseca had a game-high 27 points for the Hillclimbers, who finished the season 12-11.
“I’m not real sure what happened in the first half,” said Urbana coach Jeremy Dixon. “Things kind of snowballed a bit. We didn’t do a very good job guarding, they got a lot of open shots and it seemed like they made them all. It seemed like we got opportunities, we didn’t finish. … We fought, but just weren’t good enough tonight.”
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