Win for S. Range, but United loses in III

By John Bassetti

SALEM — The Division III boys tournament took a cue from the month of March and came in like a lion.

Three games were decided by point totals of 24, 17 and 15 as Akron Manchester, Canton Central Catholic and South Range advanced.

In South Range’s win over Waterloo (9-12), Andy Lacefield had 18 points for the Raiders (14-7).

“We knew that they had a couple big guys inside, ones they like to get the ball to,” said South Range coach Dave Purins. “We knew they like to push transition, so we knew we had to get back on defense fast and stop those easy baskets inside. Plus, they’re a good offensive rebounding team and that hurt us a little in the first half. At halftime, we talked to our guys about shoring that up.”

The play of Nathan Ruiz didn’t hurt South Range as the bruising 6-foot-7 junior hauled in 15 rebounds — when he was on the floor.

After getting his second foul with 7:49 remaining in the second quarter, the Raiders’ bench had to do the job intermittently.

“I think our guys off the bench did a great job stepping in there,” Purins said. “We played really smart. We didn’t let them have any easy entry passes. We defended well and rotated well, defensively. It was just a good game overall by our team.”

Asked what he could take away from Monday’s win, Purins said: “I loved our intensity at both ends of the floor. We were very aggressive and very unselfish. I think that’s going to go a long way.”

In assessing his expectations prior to Manchester’s 62-45 win, over, United coach Mike Ward thought his Golden Eagles could play with Manchester (13-8) because they matched up well, size-wise.

But, in reality, the Panthers came out bigger than life.

“They’re always a little different when you see them up close and on the court, rather than from the stands during scouting,” Ward said. “They were quick and athletic. They kept us out of our rhythm on offense and we never really got Zach Taylor involved in our offense,” Ward said of his team’s leading scorer, who finished with only six points.

“I was pretty happy with our defensive effort,” Ward added. “I think we played pretty well there, but their defense against our offense was the major difference in the game.”

Ryan Powell had 16 points and Ryan Sarchet 11 to paced United (7-14), which suffered 17 turnovers to Manchester’s 13. Taylor had 10 of his team’s 30 rebounds.

The Panthers also had 13 steals to compound the Golden Eagles’ woes.

Ward addressed the Golden Eagles’ free throw shooting problems.

“That’s been an Achilles heel for us all year.,” he said of making just 17 of 32 on Monday. “We were down by eight at halftime, yet missed a lot of opportunities to close the gap. It’s been a problem we’ve had all year — that’s for sure.”

In the first half, United was just 4 of 11 from the line.

Within seven [44-37] heading into the fourth quarter and Ward felt upbeat.

“No doubt. We had a good third quarter, but they came out and played zone in the fourth quarter — a 1-3-1 variety — and gave us some problems. When they got out of their man and went into that 1-3-1, it presented some problems.”