BG Wins, Settles Score: Perrysburg Won Both NLL Games

By Donald Emmons, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

Mar. 10–FINDLAY – Bowling Green made one thing clear to Perrysburg last night. What took place between the two Northern Lakes League teams during the regular season only counted for the regular season. The Bobcats streaked to a 12-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 58-44 victory over the Yellow Jackets in a Division I district boys basketball semifinal at Liberty-Benton. Bowling Green, which fell twice to Perrysburg during the regular season, led 19-2 before the Yellow Jackets scored the final three points of the first quarter. Blaise Markey buried 4 of 6 3-pointers in the first half to spark the quick start for the Bobcats (17-6), who led at halftime 33-17. Markey opened the game by swishing a 3-pointer, which led to BG scoring the first five baskets. “All we needed to do was get off to a good start,” said Markey, who finished the night with 13 points. “The past two games against Perrysburg we didn’t get off to a good start.” The Bobcats, who were paced by a team-high 16 points from Ryan Hoehner, advance to play in a district final Saturday at Bowling Green State University’s Anderson Arena. The win for the Bobcats represented the 60th career coaching victory for BG coach Von Graffin. “Besides winning the league championship [in 2004], this is my biggest win as a coach,” Graffin said. “Dave Boyce does a great job and I’m glad two Northern Lakes League teams made it this far. “But this really is huge for our kids and our program.” Graffin said playing for a district title is one of two main goals the team talked about prior to the start of the season. Winning the NLL title – which didn’t occur thanks to a pair of league losses to Perrysburg – had been the other main goal. “We failed miserably at winning the league title, but we still can go for a district title,” Graffin said. The Yellow Jackets, who went undefeated in the NLL to win the league championship, had won 15 straight games. However, they had avoided opening quarters like the one they experienced against the Bobcats in which they made only two baskets. Lavon Christian, who finished with 10 points, finally broke the ice for the Yellow Jackets when he scored to make it 12-2 with 4:46 to play in the quarter. Ashlin Joye sank a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the period to account for Perrysburg’s other basket. “I really think we did some good things tonight and the ball just didn’t go in for us, and they did some nice things and the ball did go in for them,” said Perrysburg coach Dave Boyce, whose team pulled no closer than six points of tying the score. Scott Perkins led Perrysburg with a team-high 11 points and six rebounds. The Bobcats never really allowed Perkins or anyone else to really get going offensively. Andrew Wood, who hit the game-winner in the second meeting between the two teams, finished with eight points. BG maintained the momentum in the second half by basically trading baskets with Perrysburg (18-4). “We got off to a great start and we played great defense,” Hoehner said. “We knew we had to come out and play our best game, but I don’t think there was any doubt in our minds we could beat them.” Markey, who nailed two 3-pointers in the first quarter and two in the second quarter, said the losses to Perrysburg during the regular season did serve as motivation for the latest meeting. The Bobcats came ready to play. “We really wanted this one,” Markey said. “The best thing about it is we get to end their season and that’s what we did tonight.” Nonetheless, as fast as the Bobcats started against the Yellow Jackets, it was how they never let up that impressed their coach the most. “We finished tonight and I had talked about how we didn’t finish in the other two games,” Graffin said. “We felt they didn’t beat us, but it was more that we lost the games.” Brandon Radabaugh and Moe Al-Jiboury added nine points apiece while Jordan Fortney accounted for seven for BG. Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com or 419-724-6302.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

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