Goals realized…Hayden Quinter throws down a dunk as an exclamation point to Russia’s second consective district final win Saturday, 88-54 over Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Julie McMaken Wright and Sonny Fulks)
At 25-1 their stats declare that the Russia Raiders stand as good a chance as anyone to win the 2024 Division IV title in boy basketball. But while that makes a great story, reality is another matter. If it were that easy, says Spencer Cordonnier…everyone would be doing it.
Dayton, OH – Redemption – atonement – just like repeating as a champion, is easier said than done. That’s probably why the Scriptures say that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for some people to enter the kingdom of Heaven.
That said, in a basketball sense the Russia Raiders now stand on the threshold of redemption after Saturday’s 88-54 thrashing of Cincinnati College Prep Academy, a charter school from the Over The Rhine area of downtown Cincinnati.
CCPA entered with a record of 14-7, with experience against the likes of teams like Clark Montessori and other private and charter schools, and found that winning at this level of the tournament is – you guessed it – like getting through a needle’s eye. The Lions led once, 2-0, and after that Russia roared out like a wildfire, consuming CCPA with a 20-9 lead at the end of one quarter…41-20 at the end of the half…61-38 at the end of three…and 88-54 when it was all said and done.
Russia dominated in every statistical category you can name.
Vince Borchers leans for the rim and two points in Saturday’s district win over CCPA.
Shooting percentage – 54.4% to 40%
Rebounding – 42 to 24
Turnovers – Russia had 12, CCPA had 18
Assists – Russia had 21, CCPA had 7
Blocked shots – Russia had 11, CCPA had 2
Second chance points – Russia had 26, CCPA had 8
It goes on and on.
The one category that CCPA held an advantage was that of 3-point shooting. The Lions hit 5 of 12 attempts. Russia was 1-12, but it didn’t matter. The Raiders led by double digits for all but 6 minutes and 28 seconds of the game.
Russia had four players score in double figures – Braylon Cordonnier (17), Felix Francis (15), Ben York (12), and Brayden Monnin (11). CCPA had three – Jaymear Davis (19), Deonta Booker (13), and Rico Johnson (12).
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Teams usually like to reach a competitive peak if they’re headed to the regional round of the tournament. Iron sharpens iron, you know…the tempering of fire, and all that stuff. Saturday seemed to provide none of that for Russia, who for the most part ran, and shot, blocked shots and rebounded like it was a college intra-mural game. Fisher Catholic, out of Lancaster, called winner as it turned out…Russia’s next opponent at Trent Arena next week in the regional semi-final round.
Plenty of defense…Hayden Quinter and Ben York gang up on a CCPA shooter during Saturday’s district final win.
So was 88-54 the kind of preparatory test Spencer Cordonnier was looking for – the final tune-up – before the penultimate one-and-done?
“It is what it is,” said Cordonnier. “We knew we were going to take this route and what it was going to look like. We figured that CCPA would be who we played in the district final. They’ve got a couple of really nice players, and we played really well in the first half. In the second half we got sloppy. We hadn’t played in eight days so we did some things that were uncharacteristic for us. So it really doesn’t matter. We were 3-0, trying to get to 4-0. And that’s where we are.”
Redemption? It’s rare and it’s not guaranteed even if you’re given a second chance. Competition being what it is, you still have to play. Asked how important it really is it to have a second shot at a Division IV title, regardless of who stands in the way, Cordonnier had the answer.
“We’ve talked about it,” he said. “One of our goals was to win the league. Our second goal was to get ourselves to the regional. We accomplished that. Now…we’ve been playing basketball at Russia High School for 80-plus years and we’ve only gotten out of the region twice. It’s not easy to get out of the regional tournament, and if it was we’d have gotten out fifteen times.
“And none of the other three teams are going to roll over just because Russia went to the state semi-finals last year. It’s not going to happen. That’s not who Jackson Center is, who Troy Christian is, and I don’t know Lancaster Fisher Catholic, but I can’t imagine that’s who they are, either. So we’ll come in tomorrow, practice, and start working on Fisher Catholic. This is the opportunity that we thought we could get, and now it’s here. But nothing’s going to be given to us.”
It’s customary to say that the best is yet to come, come tournament time. But all that means, really, is that the heavy lifting is here. Troy Christian? Jackson Center? Fisher Catholic? There’s not a Yellow Springs, Tri-County North or Newton in the bunch, notwithstanding that the elephant in the room is still alive and looming. Richmond Heights, the best team that somehow found its way to zip code 44143 is 15-9 coming off its own district win over Cornerstone Christian. The Spartans are winners of 10 of their last 11, and with wins this year over Akron St.Vincent-St. Mary, Lakewood St. Ed, and Pickerington Central, the reigning OHSAA runner-up in Division I.
Hair’s to ya’….Russia’s Braylon Cordonnier shoots over CCPA defender Kendall Anthony.
As he left the floor Saturday, Cincinnati College Prep Academy coach Reggie Revels was asked, “Just how good is Russia, compared to what he knows about the rest of the field?”
“They’re good, man,” he said, without reluctance, and with obvious respect. “They’re big, and every one of them is strong. They’re a good basketball team.”
And how would they stack up against Richmond Heights?
“Oh now,” he said. “Q is my man (Quentin Rogers, coach of Richmond Heights). They can’t beat Richmond Heights. That’s a Division I team…guards are too big and too many 6’8″ and 6’9″ kids.”
Unless you consider the example of 2021 when Botkins, smaller, but quick and well-coached by Sean Powell (now at Lima Central Catholic) dealt Richmond an embarrassing loss in the semi-final round at UD Arena. Afterwards Rogers was asked about having overlooked Botkins for the fact of his team’s height advantage?
Felix Francis collects one of 11 blocked shots in Saturday’s district final win.
“We just got outplayed,” said Rogers. “But I’ll never come back here unprepared again.”
Take that as you will, I guess. They’ve spent the last two years fortifying and playing a largely independent schedule, even though Richmond Heights is a member of the Chagrin Valley Conference.
But not to get ahead of ourselves, first Fisher Catholic, and then either Troy Christian or Jackson Center.
And considering it all, how wise is it now to consider the words and example of a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle? Redemption has NEVER been easy.
Just two times in 80-plus years.
Spencer Cordonnier has done the math.
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