Ridge climbs ladder to final

Mineral Ridge got strong performances from six players.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STRUTHERS -- It's not how tall the players on a team are that's important, but how high they can jump while also excelling in other areas of play.
The Mineral Ridge boys basketball team proved that Tuesday night against a much-taller Canton Heritage Christian team in a semifinal game of the boys District IV district basketball tournament at Struthers Fieldhouse.
The Rams were able to offset the Conquerors' height advantage with aggressive rebounding and defensive strategy while getting their fast break going and play strong man-to-man-defense, to roll to a 74-50 win and advance to the district final.
Friday at 7 p.m., Mineral Ridge (20-2) will play McDonald (16-7) for the fourth time this season, this time for the district championship.
The Rams won the three previous meetings by margins of eight, 11 and three points, respectively.
Mineral Ridge got strong performances by six players.
Nick Diana led the way with 18 points while Wade Campbell and Vance Keirsey had 11 each, Micah Hall 10, Josh Garland eight and Nick Dominic seven.
And the Rams were 26-for-54 from the field to Heritage Christian's 16-for-50.
Rams hit the boards
"[We] are athletic. We have been [at a height disadvantage) all year. Our biggest guy is 6-2. We just [hit the boards] and play defense," said coach Del Ruiter of Mineral Ridge, who said that his team finally had the incentive to play four quarters of basketball. "We had a little bit of incentive." And, "The kids picked it up tonight."
Ruiter also credited John Hack and assistant coach Mark Mollohan for keeping 6-foot-8-inch Chris Lovette and other tall teammates away from the boards to limit the Conquerors to very few second shots.
"Hack did a great [defensive] job on Lovette. They weren't getting any second-shot opportunities. We were boxing out Lovette. Coach Mollohan came up with that defensive strategy," said Ruiter, who also lauded Diana's play. Diana was outstanding in attacking the hoop on offense.
"Nick Diana had a little tweak in his shoulder [which] bothered him against Southern, and he went 0-7 from the field. But he got more rest and came out and performed [tonight]," Ruiter said.
Big Lovette is contained
Kris Miller scored 16 points, including four 3-point goals, to lead Heritage Christian (17-6), but Lovette was held to nine points while Sean Best had seven.
However, Lovette did grab nine rebounds despite being out of position a lot, while Cody Shaffer had seven with six points.
Conquerors' coach Greg Linville conceded that Mineral Ridge has a lot of good athletes who can do a lot of different things, including rebounding.
"We were playing against the sixth-ranked team in the state that had eight seniors and was senior-led. Those guys can do things and they are well-balanced," Linville said. "They established their style of play."
Linville said his team was hampered by Lovette's early foul trouble that restricted his effectiveness and kept him out of the game for awhile.
"Lovette had three [offensive] fouls right off the bat and that takes him out of the game in the first half," Linville said. "If he plays the first half, we could have turned around the game. So we had to play a different style of game."
But Linville didn't believe that the Rams were boxing out Lovette legally.
"He had three offensive fouls. They were fouling him not boxing him out. They were hanging on him and pushing out."
But Linville admitted: "They had quicker foot speed and they were getting to the hoop better than us. They had great foot speed and athleticism."
Diana keys strong start
Behind Diana's 11 first-half points, the Rams took a 14-8 lead after the first quarter and 35-23 advantage at the half, before breaking open the game in the third quarter after Heritage Christian drew within 39-26 on Lovette's goal.
Diana and Garland sparked the surge with five points to boost the Rams' margin to 50-29 entering the final period.
Then consecutive baskets by Hack, Campbell and Hall made it 56-29 to finish off the Conquerors.
kovach@vindy.com