PANDORA – After capturing the regional title on Friday, the Pandora-Gilboa team was a treated to a hero’s welcome as the community came together and celebrated the historic win that propelled the Rockets to the state tournament for the first time in school history.
“It was a nice experience (celebrating with the community) but we really couldn’t let it sink in yet because you are around all those people (at the community center),” Braidic said. “So we left there around twelve o’ clock and we went to my house. We have a really great coaching staff so we sat around and told stories and that is when it sunk in that we were heading to Columbus.”.
But the celebration was short-lived as Braidic and his coaching staff, Scott Schnipke, Paul Ginther, Kurt Mullins, Josh Lee and Eric Berdin, were back to work Saturday to prepare for the team’s state semi-final game against Marion Local at 2 p.m. Thursday.
Marion Local enters the game with a 24-3 mark and winners of its last 13 straight including a big 62-47 win over Fort Loramie in is regional final.
Braidic admits it has been a whirlwind of events since the win Friday. He has had to submit numerous forms and attend meetings to prepare to go and play in state but said he is finally diving in deep to watch film on the Flyers last night around 7 p.m..
“We clipped them up on Saturday because we have film on them,” Braidic said. “They are big and strong. Their post player (Tyler Mescher) is maybe 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3 but he is 250 lbs. The four-man (Nathan Bruns) is 6-foot-6 and was the quarterback of the team so we expect them to be very poised because they played in the football finals so mentally they should be ready to go and the environment is not going to bother them.”
Braidic added that the Flyers, like the Rockets, play similar style man-to-man defense and they will try to deny reversals and “make like difficult for you.”
Both Mescher and Bruns were first-team All-Midwest Athletic Conference selections. Mescher was a first-team All-Northwest Ohio District player who averaged 16.4 points a contest and Bruns was a third-team pick who averaged 14.6 points a game.
Marion Local is giving up an average of 45.3 points per game. Pandora-Gilboa is allowing 38.9 points a contest.
“We think it is a toss up game,” Braidic said. “Who ever goes down there and doesn’t get caught up in the moment ha a good chance of winning.
Throughout the postseason, the Rockets appear to be revelling in the moment and have gained confidence with each win in the tournament .
“As hard as it is to believe we have gotten better as we have gone along in the tournament and we have shot the ball better,” Braidic said.
Prior to beating Crestview, 70-58 in the regional finals, the Rockets were averaging 54.4 points a game. Against the Knights, Pandora-Gilboa shot 55 percent from the floor.
Braidic added that the win over Crestview was probably the team’s best win of the year.
Even though the Rockets are riding high, Braidic said they are trying to keep everything as normal as possible in preparation for Thursday’s contest with regular two-hour practices followed by studying film with the aid of assistant coach Scott Schnipke who breaks down all the video.
“We are going to go through what they are going to try and do offensively to us and work on that today, tomorrow and Wednesday and take off Wednesday afternoon and then it will not be normal anymore.”
Braidic understands that the state venue can be overwhelming and it was even for him who toured the Schottenstein Sunday.
“It is just different,” Braidic said. “I remember every one telling me it is a different shooting environment and so I went over there and I stood at the foul line and thinking ‘man it looks like the rim is right there.’ The perception of where you at is so different than what you are used to so luckily we get a little time on the floor but other than that you better shoot with confidence and let muscle memory take over.”
Braidic said he thinks the game will come down to rebounding and keeping the Flyers out of the paint.
“I’ ve talked to guys who have been down there and they say the bigger the venue the more rebounds there are so I think rebounding is a key to the game.”
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