Vince Borchers found paths to the basket in the second half and finished with 18 points. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
A state championship is finally within Russia’s grasp after the Raiders, led by Braylon Cordonnier’s 28 points, physically dominate Arlington on defense and on the boards.
Bowling Green, OH – Coaches find virtue in one game at a time.
But sometimes there’s an elephant in the room, and that elephant must be dealt with. So when the Russia Raiders were 17-0, Spencer Cordonnier began practice by discussing the unbeaten elephant that threatened to weigh down his senior-heavy team.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
It kind of happened again during postgame interviews Friday night at the Stroh Center after his team, with no elephants in sight, reached 28-0 with a 61-44 victory over Arlington in the Division VII semifinals.
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Two of the coach’s players – Braylon Cordonnier and Vince Borchers – were answering questions about how happy they are to have advanced to the state final. They were saying the right things about next Saturday’s 5:15 state final at UD Arena against Willoughby Cornerstone Christian.
“Feels great to be able to have the chance to come back and kind of think third time is a charm,” said senior Braylon Cordonnier, who scored 28 points. “But we know we got our work cut out for us with Cornerstone.”
The past two years the Raiders lost to super team Richmond Heights and its roster of Division I prospects in the Division IV semifinals.
Braylon Cordonnier scored 28 points on 11 of 13 shooting.
“It feels good to finally get there,” senior point guard Vince Borchers said. “Even though they’ve both been close games, we really just wanted to get there and see what we can do.”
Then Spencer Cordonnier, never much for coach speak, talked about the elephant of lofty expectations and the bull’s-eye on his team’s collective back. While his team brilliantly plays one game at a time, every team on the Raiders’ schedule has had one game in mind. Be the team to take down the small-school juggernaut that has won every game by double digits.
“What these guys aren’t telling you is one of their goals from the beginning of the year was to be playing next Saturday,” he said of the elephant that wandered into the interview room. “That’s pretty lofty, especially when you’re going to have a bull’s-eye on your back all year long.”
The Raiders went 12-0 in the Shelby County Athletic League and 22-0 in the regular season. On that elephant-squelching day at 17-0, the coach reminded his team that every opponent wants to be the team to slay the giant.
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“We can go 22-0,” he told them. “If we get there, imagine how big that bull’s-eye is going to be when you when you go into tournament. And these guys stayed the course all year long, and have believed it.”
That belief carried them past another team determined to be the one. Arlington wasn’t fazed by Russia’s 6-0 start. The Red Devils (24-4) scored the next seven points. Then it was back and forth until the Raiders scored the final six points of the half for a 31-23 lead.
Dominic Francis converts on a reverse layup against Arlington’s Calvin Willow.
But this game had the look of a game that could push Russia more than any game all year.
“We weren’t going to come in here in the state semifinals and somebody’s going to lay down for us just because we’re 27-0,” Spencer Cordonnier said. “You’re going to play a good team. You’re going to play athletes.”
Slashing to the rim for layups were guards Jase Vermillion (20 points) and Brady Griggs (nine points). But the key to everything for the Red Devils was 6-foot-10 center Calvin Willow. He scored eight points in the first half.
But as the first half wound down and the Raiders scored the first four points of the second half to complete a 10-0 run for a 35-23 lead, it was clear that Raiders had figured out all kinds of ways to control the game.
On offense they executed a scheme they began practicing Tuesday. The Raiders knew they would see a zone defense with Willow and his long arms patrolling the middle.
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The plan was to run offense through the 6-4 Cordonnier in the high post and keep 6-6 Dominic Francis in the low post. That forced Willow to choose whether to come out on Cordonnier or keep close tabs on Francis.
The Raiders also put players in the short corners to further complicate Willow’s life. Cordonnier was unstoppable in the lane, scoring over Willow or stepping out to make three 3-pointers. He made all five of his shots in the first half and 11 of 13 for the game. Francis scored eight points.
Jaxon Grogean attacks Arlington with a drive across the three-point line.
“The high post has a lot to do with that,” Braylon Cordonnier said of his big night. “That was a weakness in the middle because Willow kind of had to stay back because we have Francis in the post. The middle opened up, and then short corner opened up, and then it just opened up for everybody.”
Borchers took advantage and went to work, as he often does, attacking the basket, scoring some over Willow, and scoring eight of his 14 points in the second half.
“They did a really good job of attacking our puncture spot there that we’ve been able to somewhat manage,” Arlington coach Jason Vermillion said. “We’ve had teams do that to us, but they use their bodies better on Calvin to force him deeper and he couldn’t challenge some shots. Francis was active and Cordonnier hit a lot of shots over top of Calvin when those are the tough twos that we’re telling teams that they got to do. And they did.”
Benjamin York gets inside for two points against Arlington’s big man.
The Raiders also physically dominated rebounding in a way Arlington knew the Raiders could. But with Willow in the middle, it was difficult to see the Raiders’ 32-14 advantage coming. And of those 32 rebounds, 17 were offensive. The Raiders seemed to win every 50-50 ball that came off the rim. They scored 15 second-chance points to zero for Arlington.
“They definitely out-physicaled us,” Griggs said. “They were just flat out stronger than us. And although we competed, we just weren’t strong enough.”
After the great game Braylon Cordonnier played on one of the biggest basketball stages of his life and for all the sweat his effort produced, Arlington would have been stunned at something he said after the game. But if they knew baseball was his favorite sport and he’s headed to Marshall in the fall to play for the Thundering Herd, they might have understood.
“I’m glad it’s about over,” he said. “I mean, I’m tired of playing basketball.”
And that made his dad the coach smile, roll his eyes and his head in one big motion, and say, “I knew that was coming.”
Russia’s Vince Borchers (22) and Braylon Cordonnier grab a rebound away from Arlington.
And his son kept on going.
“It’s a grind, and you just gotta stick to it. I’m sure there’s others that are ready to be done. You start in October with conditioning, and here we’re at the end of March. We’re here, so why not let it all out?”
And why play with so hard when the warm weather and green grass of the baseball diamond are calling you home?
“We just want to make the community proud,” Braylon said. “They’ve been there supporting us these last two years, so we’re hoping this time we can get it for them, and then just the other guys on the team. They obviously don’t get the credit that we do, but they’re the ones putting in just as much, if not more, work in practice to make us better. Getting one for them, too, would make us all pretty happy.”
The blue-clad Russia fans who made up half of the 3,649 who witnessed Friday’s next-to-last-step toward the biggest prize, would agree that happy is the way they want to drive home Saturday night.
The last thing Spencer Cordonnier said before heading to the bus came from the heart of a coach who isn’t afraid to talk about elephants and wants a state title for far more people than himself.
“I want this for anybody that’s ever put on the uniform,” he said. “Six down, one more to go.”
Finally, that’s the game the Raiders get to play.
Zeb Schulze snags a defensive rebound. Raiders outrebounded Arlington 32-14.
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