South Range's trail of upsets turns cold with 18-5 record

By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
SALEM -- For 27 minutes, Cinderella stood toe-to-toe in pursuit of an upset trifecta.
But South Range High's clock struck midnight in minutes 28 and 29 of Saturday's 73-68 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the Division III district final at Cabas Gymnasium.
The second-seeded Knights finally shook free with an 8-0 run that opened up a 62-55 lead.
The Knights (15-8) were nearly perfect in the fourth quarter, making 8-of-10 shots and 12-of-13 free-throw attempts to earn a berth in the regional tournament next week at the Canton Fieldhouse.
Earned respect: "It's such an honor to play in a championship game, and our guys came and played for the gold," South Range coach Harold McCue said. "All I ask of my fellows is to play hard for 32 minutes, and they played very hard right up until that last second."
After upsetting top-seeded Springfield and third-seeded Lisbon to qualify for the title game, the Raiders' season ended with a 18-5 record.
"We've had a phenomenal season," McCue said. "We weren't seeded and rightfully so, probably, but boy did we earn some respect in this tournament."
St. Thomas coach Dave Waseity agreed.
"South Range played a tremendous game," Waseity said. "This was much more of a physical contest than we expected."
That the Raiders were even in the game in the second half was a tribute to the poise they showed after accumulating 11 fouls in the game's first 12 minutes.
"I told them we have to do a better job keeping them off the free-throw line in the second half," McCue said. "The foul line was the difference in the game because they scored down the stretch."
Fouls taper off: Trailing 23-19, the Raiders remained aggressive but didn't earn any more personals in the first half as they outscored the Knights 15-8 in the final 3:47 of the first half.
Sparking South Range's surge were juniors George Rohan and Ryan Copeland who came off the bench to score 23 of the Raiders' 34 first-half points.
"Those fellows have started for us," said McCue who wasn't surprised by their performances. "We're not a five-man team or a two-man team. We needed Copeland and George to come in and play big, and they did exactly that."
In the first quarter, Copeland score three baskets and two free throws for eight points that gave South Range a 17-14 lead. Copeland finished with 12 points.
Late in the first half, Rohan, who led South Range with 21 points, sank two 3-pointers and added two free throws to put the Raiders on top 34-31 at the break.
After the score seesawed throughout the third quarter, the Raiders took their final lead, 55-54, with 4:44 to go when Rohan sank three foul shots.
The game turned when Knights sophomore Kyrone Jackson sank two free throws, junior Bruce Volpe hit a 3-pointer and senior Rodell Sheeler drove for a basket, drew a foul and connected on the free throw.
Trim lead again: Senior Matt Kirk, who scored 15 points, and Richie Schuler, who totaled 11, scored the next two baskets as South Range cut the lead to 62-59.
But that was as close as the Raiders would get the rest of the way.
"We created some turnovers and fought hard to get back in it, but time ran out," McCue said. "Give St. Thomas credit -- they played an outstanding game and they deserve to move on."
Senior Matt Thompson led the Knights with 20 points, including seven free throws in the final quarter. Sophomore Sean Schott had 15 points, Sheeler 14 and Volpe scored 10.
williams@vindy.com