“I felt like down the stretch we had some plays where it was like, ‘Oh man, what are we doing here?’ but that’s kind of been our guys mentality all year,” said Oakwood coach Braden Short, whose team won the SWBL Buckeye division and improved to 19-5 overall.
“If we can get to a close game in the fourth quarter, we’re going to make the winning plays to pull it out. We felt comfortable we would make the right plays down the stretch.”
Senior point guard Luke Rubin led the way, scoring 23 points for the Lumberjacks and making several key plays, including a transition 3-pointer that broke a 45-all tie midway through the fourth quarter and a driving layup that gave Oakwood a 56-50 lead with 1:25 left.
“When he steps up and can be a leader for us, that definitely helps,” Short said. “When he can get it going, he plays with a lot of energy. Guys feed off his energy, and that only makes us better.”
Oakwood led 19-14 midway through the second quarter, but the Chieftains hit three 3-pointers in an 11-2 run to take a 25-21 lead.
Rubin found Jack Worsham for an easy basket on the block to end the run, but the Lumberjacks went to the locker room at halftime trailing 25-23.
Grayson Lotts, a 6-1 junior, hit the last of the treys in the run and finished the half with 11 points for Bellefontaine.
Credit: Marcus Hartman
Credit: Marcus Hartman
Rubin hit a 3-pointer to put Oakwood back on top early in the third quarter, but Bellefontaine responded with a 9-2 run to take a 34-28 lead.
The Chiefs led by as many as eight late in the third, but Rubin hit a deep trey to send the game to the fourth quarter 45-40 and set up a dominant final frame for the ‘Jacks.
They advanced to play No. 3 seed Cincinnati Taft on Saturday at a site to be determined.
Michael Woeste added 11 points for Oakwood while Jackson Thobe and Owen Hoersting scored 10 apiece.
Lotts led Bellefontaine (10-14) with 17 points while Jacob Salyer had 11.
About the Author
