ELIDA – Defense wins games.
And when a team can control the boards, it’s almost a sure thing.
In Wednesday’s Division III boys sectional semifinal basketball game at the Elida Fieldhouse, Coldwater executed both facets of the game very well, en route to a hard-fought 53-46 victory over Delphos Jefferson.
With the win, Coldwater (12-11) will take on Lima Central Catholic (9-14) Friday at Elida in a sectional title game. Tip-off will be around 8 p.m.
LCC slipped past Elmwood in Wednesday’s second semifinal, 47-41.
Despite shooting just 37 percent from the field, the Cavaliers were able to neutralize Jefferson by dominating the boards, 38-24.
Delphos Jefferson (8-15) shot 43 percent from the floor. However, the Wildcats struggled from the free throw line, making just 4 of 14 from the stripe for 29 percent.
Marcus Bruns led Coldwater and all scorers with 27 points, and pulled down nine rebounds. Teammate Cole Frilling scored 12 points and pulled down a game-high 13 boards.
Hunter Mericle led Delphos Jefferson with 14 points. Tyler Bratton scored 13 points for the Wildcats. Alex Rode, a 6-foot, 5-inch post player for Jefferson, scored eight points and had two blocks.
“To hold a team to 17 (first-half) points – we’re pretty happy with that,” Coldwater coach Nick Fisher said. “(In the) second quarter, I thought we did pretty good, defensively. Obviously, we would like to have scored more than 18 points (in the first half).
“But, you know how it is – it’s the first tournament game. But we settled in and did a little better job in the second half; and obviously, it was good enough to get the win.”
Delphos Jefferson opened the game with a 6-0 run. However, Coldwater responded, cutting the deficit to 6-4.
A 3-pointer by Mericle pushed the Jefferson lead to 9-4 with three minutes to play in the first quarter.
Frilling kept Coldwater close, scoring six first-quarter points.
The Cavaliers cut the deficit to 9-8 by the first stop.
Coldwater claimed its first lead, 11-9, on a 3-pointer by Bruns, just seconds into the second quarter.
Despite making just 3 of 13 shots from the field in the second frame, Coldwater slipped out with an 18-17 lead by the halftime break. Bruns led the way for the Cavaliers in the first half, scoring nine points.
Coldwater had the edge on the boards in the first half, 20-14. However, the Cavaliers connected on just 25 percent of its shots in the first 16 minutes of action.
“That’s one of the things we talked about at halftime,” Fisher said. “Obvioulsy, we weren’t hitting our shots, but we outrebounded them by halftime. And we continued that in the second half.”
Coldwater pushed out to a 36-29 lead by the end of the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Grant Meyer (six points, two 3-pointers) with 20 seconds left in the third, gave the Cavaliers the seven-point advantage.
A 3-pointer by Jacob Wenning (six points), just moments into the fourth quarter, extended the Coldwater lead to 39-29.
However, Jefferson battled back and cut the Coldwater lead to 43-39 with 2:30 left to play on a layup by Bratton.
The Wildcats were also within four points with 1:30 left to play.
In the fourth quarter, Bruns sank 5 of 6 shots from the charity stripe to help keep Coldwater in control.
“We did a good job of handling their pressure,” Jefferson coach Jordan Jettinghoff said. “Late-game execution – we had a couple lapses there. I don’t want to chalk it up to free throws, but we had our chances, down four with 1:30 left in the game. We just couldn’t find a way to get a stop or a defensive rebound.”
For the game, Coldwater committed four turnovers, while Jefferson turned the ball over five times.
“A win is a win, ugly or not,” Fisher said with a grin.
Added Jettinghoff, “We did a better job in the second half, but it (rebounding) still hurt us a little bit. It really hurt us in the second half. We talked about it at halftime, saying it’s a ‘want to’. You want to do the little things –play defense and get the defensive rebound.”
Lima Central Catholic 47, Elmwood 41
Lima Central Catholic held off a pesky Elmwood squad down the stretch, for a thrilling six-point victory.
LCC’s Mark Janowski scored 11 of his 14 total points, in the fourth quarter to lead the T-Birds (9-14).
“Mark’s our leader,” LCC coach Frank Kill said about Janowski. “He’s the beast, and we need to feed him. We didn’t feed him, early on. He was getting frustrated. The ball just wasn’t rolling his way. But, he’s a senior, and he stepped up in a big-time situation (fourth quarter).”
Lima Central got off to a slow start against Elmwood.
LCC led 21-15 by the halftime break, despite shooting 35 percent from the floor, and turning the ball over 10 times.
The T-Birds extended their lead to 33-22 by the third stop.
However, Elmwood came roaring back in the final eight minutes of action. The Royals outscored the T-Birds 19-14 in the final quarter.
For the game, LCC shot 38 percent from the floor. Elmwood shot 41 percent.
“I really thought, defensively in the first quarter, the tide shifted,” Kill said. “We were down and I went to a different lineup and it really got us going.
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