Marion’s Jack Knapke attempts to score over LCC’s Billy Bourk in the second half of Friday’s 41-35 loss in the district final at Wapakoneta. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Leading by three points at halftime, Marion Local got outscored 25-16 in the second half to fall to Lima Central Catholic in the Division IV district final Friday at Wapakoneta.
Wapakoneta, OH – In one of the more famous scenes from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, you’re familiar with the famous line, no doubt, “Beware the ides of March.”
And how that’s relevant to basketball is this. Whatever deficiency you have as a basketball team, you’re going to find out come tournament time. And tournament time comes in March.
Friday night it was Marion Local’s time to face grim reality, falling to #1 seed Lima Central Catholic, 41-35, after leading the Thunderbirds for nearly three quarters.
But LCC simply ran down the Flyers in the final quarter, using its superior guard play and laser-like shooting from the foul line to cash in Marion’s season with a final mark of 12 wins and 14 losses (Max Preps).
“They (LCC) were really good with their pressure,” said Kurt Goettemoeller. “They wore us down a bit, I think, and when they needed to turn it up notch at the end they were able to do it.”
Simple as that. And to those who saw it there was very little to dispute. LCC’s superior backcourt play with Willie and DeMarr Foster, and Jordan Priddy was a difference in the final outcome, as Gottemoeller would characterize it, “their skill, athleticism, and experience.”
LCC’s Billy Bourk scores past Jack Knapke during the T-Birds 14-5 run in the final quarter.
Willie Foster and center Billy Bourk got LCC on the board first with a pair of buckets to go up 4-0 a minute into the game.
But Marion came back with a bang, hitting three consecutive bombs from behind the arc – Austin Niekamp, Kyle Otte, and Mitchell Ranley – to quickly take the lead and build it to 15-10 advantage by quarter’s end.
In the second quarter neither team scored much to speak of – LCC 6 points and Marion 4 – as the difference in speed and quickness for LCC began to become evident. Still, Marion held a 19-16 lead at the break, though far from comfortable.
In the third the Flyers came out to make a couple of shots early that built on their advantage…3s by Grant Kremer, Ranley, and Daniel Everman…and momentum, for a brief instance, made a cameo appearance as Marion ran their lead out to nine points. But LCC quickly closed the gap as Marion had a pair of bad turnovers, Bourck scored six in the paint for T-Birds, and by the end of the eight minutes the margin was back down to three, 30-27.
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LCC coach Sean Powell had led Botkins to the 2021 Division IV title with 6’6″ Jacob Pleiman inside, yes. But come crunch time in the tournament run he turned to a pair of quick, mercurial guards that could take care of the ball and get it to the rim. Friday night, come crunch time, he turned to the Fosters and Jordan Priddy.
During the timeout between quarters he unleashed the full force of his full court pressure, doubling the ball at every opportunity, and found, like against Richmond Heights in 2021, that quickness can beat height and size. Marion’s inexperience in the backcourt was exposed, and Priddy suddenly had open looks for five points, Carson Parker got looks for six points, and Willie Foster picked up the final two of LCC’s fourteen points for the quarter. The three of them, Priddy, Parker, and Foster, would outscore Marion 14-5, taking the lead for the first time since the opening minute of the game at the 5:32 mark on a Priddy bomb from the corner.
Jordan Priddy came up big for LCC when big was needed, scoring a game-high 14 points.
Jack Knapke, coming off a 22-point performance on Tuesday against St. Henry was double teamed every time he touched the ball, and in the fourth when he kicked it back out he had some wide-open choices. But down 32-31 with five minutes to go, the three-point shots that fell in the first half would not now fall. Everman misfired, Kremer would miss, and Niekamp would miss.
The ides of March!
“I think their pressure got to our legs, we were tired, and we had some shots come up short,” said Goettemoeller, later. “But we had some open looks, and looks that we wanted. Unfortunately, the shots just didn’t go in.”
With three minutes left in the game Powell went into a stall for more than a minute, making Marion stand while time ticked away – shortening the game.
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“I was fine with that,” said Goettemoeller. “We were tired, I was trying to get to the end of the game, they were the better team with better athletes, so I was fine with him taking a minute or two off the clock. But then Jordan Priddy hit a big three and we’re down five, and we battled after that, but that was the BIG shot.”
There were a couple of calls. There always are. But credit to LCC, as Goettemoeller shared…they played to their strength at the end of the game when quickness and speed became an obstacle the Flyers could not overcome. They would hit a couple of late shots with Knapke and Ranley, but LCC would celebrate its 41-35 win and a trip next week to Bowling Green and the northwest regional.
No caption necessary…as Marion’s Jack Knapke walks off the court with the district runner-up trophy.
Austin Niekamp led Marion with 10 points, Knapke and Ranley had 8 each, while Daniel Everman, Kyle Otte, and Grant Kremer all finished with 3 apiece.
For LCC, Jordan Priddy cashed in on 5 of 9 shooting for 14 points, Carson Parker and Willie Foster each had 8, Brady Parker finished with 6 points and DeMarr Foster had 5.
“We made shots early in the game, and we made shots early in the third quarter,” Goettemoeller concluded. “But at the end we had the looks we wanted, and you’ve got to make shots in situations like that.”
For the record, March has given much to Marion in the past, and no greater than that in 2018.
This time, however, it wasn’t so kind. And Shakespeare couldn’t have written it differently.
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