Raiders, Rebels fall in Division III

March 2, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

SALEM

From a first half of strong defense and fairly good scoring, South Range went into the locker room excited to continue the second half the same way of its boys Division III basketball tournament game on Tuesday night.

However, Waterloo exploded in the second half to take a 63-49 victory at Salem High School.

“They went out and took control of the second half,” said South Range (16-5)coach Dave Purins. “They executed and we struggled to score.”

South Range was held to just four points in the third quarter.

“They attacked us when they had an opportunity and took advantage of it,” added Purins of the Vikings. “They’re an experienced team and they made our defense move.”

Leading the attack for the Vikings was Brendan Milburn, who scored 29 points, including three of his six from behind the arc in the third quarter.

“We called a couple timeouts and talked about getting a hand up in his face,” said Purins. “Needless to say, he shot the ball well.”

Purins was proud of his team’s season. The Raiders finished with the third-best record in school history.

“Our kids sacrificed a lot and played as a team this year,” Purins added. “They went out and gave it their all for their buddies.”

CRESTVIEW-ROOTSTOWN

Crestview (15-6) inbounded the ball and threw up a quick shot with 3.9 seconds left in regulation, but Brian Orr was there to grab the rebound and sink a shot as the buzzer sounded.

It was all Rootstown (10-11) in overtime, though, as they scored 13 points to the Rebels’ six.

C.J. Collins led Crestview with 18 points, while Carter Hill and Orr scored 14 each.