Taller Flyers shut down Lincolnview

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

FAIRBORN — Marion Local’s size and length proved to be too much for Lincolnview to overcome, as the No. 1 ranked Flyers pulled away from the Lancers for a 46-30 win in the Division VI state semifinals at Wright State University’s Ervin J. Nutter Center Friday night, ending Lincolnview’s remarkable run.

With four of five starters going 6-2 or taller, Marion Local controlled the boards, finishing with a 26-14 rebounding advantage and eight blocked shots, not to mention a number of other Lincolnview shots that were altered by the taller Flyers.

“Coming in we knew Marion Local was going to be a heck of a basketball team,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said. “We told other people there’s a reason they’re No. 1 in the state, with their only loss to Delphos St. John’s. We knew it was going to be a challenge and we knew the uphill battle we had to face when it came to size and physicality – we preached that all week long.

“Coming in I thought our kids battled for the most part,” he continued. “We got in a little bit of foul trouble which kind of hurt us but I thought we battled, we just struggled to score and if you look at a lot of teams’ scoring outputs against them, a lot of teams are in the 30s because they do such a great job on the defensive end with their physicality and their length and how well they’re coached. It just gave us problems and it was tough to get shots off tonight and I think the final score doesn’t dictate how close the game was and how hard we battled.”

“Give credit to Marion Local – they were able to execute and make their free throws down the stretch. It’s a tough one to take.”

“I think that was a great basketball game between two really good northwest (Ohio) high school basketball programs,” Marion Local head coach Kurt Goettemoeller said. “Credit to coach Hammons – they are really hard to guard and he has absolutely maximized that team this year. They play as hard as anybody we’ve seen all year. They’re the best cutting team we’ve seen all year.”

The Lancers did indeed hang with Marion Local in the first quarter and trailed by just two, 14-12 at the end of the period. However, Gavin Evans was saddled with two fouls midway through the opening quarter and had to sit. Lincolnview’s only lead of the game was 8-7 on a layup by Chayse Overholt.

While the score remained close in the second quarter, points were at a premium. 6-2 senior Brayden Mescher scored six of Marion Local’s eight points in the quarter while Max Hammons accounted for all seven of Lincolnview’s points in the period, and Marion Local led 22-19 at the break.

Evans picked up his third foul 45 seconds into the third quarter and back-to-back buckets by Mescher put the Flyers ahead 29-22. Max Hammons answered with two buckets of his own to pulled the Lancers to within three 29-26, but Lincolnview did not score again for over five minutes and trailed 32-26 to start the final period.

“In the second half we just really locked in defensively,” Goettemoeller said. “We finally got a 5-7 point lead where we could spread them out and once we were able to spread them out we were able to get to the rim and get some easy ones, but the final score is not indicative of how tough the game was.”

Mescher, who finished with a game high 23 points, scored seven straight points in the fourth quarter, and the Flyers used those points, defense and blocked shots, and free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

He’s 6-2 and athletic and built like a brick,” Hammons said of Mescher. “It’s tough to stay in front of a guy like that.”

Marion Local finished 16-of-32 from the floor, including 3-of-14 from three point range, and 11-17 from the foul line. Kale Ahrens finished with eight points, while Brennen Hess and Grant Kremer combined for 14 rebounds.

Lincolnview was 13-of-33 shooting but just 1-of-7 from long range. The Lancers went to the foul line just four times, converting three. Hammons finished with 15 points and three rebounds, while Marshall Hammons added six.

While Marion Local (26-1) returns to the title game to face Berlin-Hiland at 7:30 tonight, the Lancers saw their season come to an end at 22-6.

“Everyone doubted us – we were 5-18 last year,” Hammons said. These seniors (Evans, Overholt, Holden Price, Jackson Ingledue, Lucas Grubb, Grant Zielke and Kody Hamilton) through three years of high school had 13 wins combined and for us to end up the year 22-6 and losing a state semifinal game, it’s unbelievable. It’s something people are going to remember down the road – the ride they took us on. It’s the seniors, it’s the rest of our players – it’s been so darn fun coaching them throughout this entire year and words can’t really describe how I feel at this moment.”

Box score

Marion Local  14   8  10  14 – 46

Lincolnview    12   7    7    4 – 30

Marion Local: Brennen Hess 1-0-2; Grant Kremer 3-0-9; Luke Everman 1-0-2; Kale Ahrens 3-2-8; Brayden Mescher 8-7-23; Isaac Moeller 0-2-2

Lincolnview: Max Hammons 6-2-15; Gavin Evans 1-1-3; Chayse Overholt 1-0-2; Marshall Hammons 3-0-6; Emryn Hatfield 2-0-4