Braylon Cordonnier attacks the rim for two of his 13 points in Friday’s win over Anna. (Press Pros Fature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
“Deja Vu all over again,” Anna Coach Nate Barhorst said of his team’s second loss to Russia in four days. Friday’s mirror image game of Tuesday’s matchup saw Russia start hot, create havoc, and come five points shy of exactly matching Tuesday’s score.
Russia, OH – Anna turnover – Russia layup – Anna turnover – Russia 3-pointer – Anna turnover – Russia layup.
Alan Brads is a contributing columnist and writes sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.
Those first six possessions of the second quarter spelled out Friday night’s 63-36 Russia (14-0, 8-0) victory in the clearest terms possible.
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The Raiders’ thievery prevailed as the primary theme of the game, or at least of the first half, which comprised the competitive portion of the game. If you caught Tuesday’s edition of Anna (5-8, 3-4) vs. Russia, you probably could’ve skipped out on attending this one. It nearly plagiarized Tuesday’s score of 68-36, and featured Russia bounding out to an early lead before a slower second half.
“Preparing for the same team twice in a row, that’s just not something that we do at all, ever.” Russia senior Ben York said. York and Head Coach Spencer Cordonnier said the preparation process was the same, but the feeling was foreign.
Raider Ben York bats away the shot attempt of Anna’s Carter Wenning.
The cause of the conference foes playing twice in the time it takes leftovers to go bad was a playoff run by Anna’s football team that necessitated rescheduling their first matchup.
“I thought we had a good couple days of practice making some adjustments,” Anna Coach Nate Barhorst said. “But when you go up against a team that physically outmatches you at every position, it’s tough.”
If six possessions is too succinct a synopsis, the first quarter is perhaps a fuller telling of the tale. Russia forced eight turnovers and bounded to an 18-5 lead without any player scoring more than four points. Russia’s offense of opportunity shined, turning steals into points by finding the open man before Anna could recover.
Benjamin York, Vince Borchers, and Dominic Francis scored 13 apiece, and Braylon Cordonnier added nine. No Rocket topped five points.
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It wasn’t any shiny new concept Russia pulled out to force all the turnovers, just the things they do every night. They bring full-court pressure from opening tip until the final buzzer … or until they have mercy.
“They’re very active with their hands, always in the passing lanes, always getting their hand in the cookie jar, just always creating havoc.” Barhorst said.
Raider Dominic Francis scores over Anna’s Carter Seigle.
There are no moments off when you play Russia. They will force you to play all 1,920 seconds of the basketball game.
“Our intensity was really good in the first half,” Borchers said. “On Tuesday we came out a little stagnant in the first couple minutes before jumping on them, so we learned from that what we need to do.”
Thirteen first-half turnovers by Anna put the game out of reach by halftime, trailing 33-11
“Defensively we’ve been locked in the last two games,” Cordonnier said. “When you take care of that business early, it kinda sets the tone for the game. We were able to speed them up and do everything we wanted to do defensively which led to some easy baskets early on.”
In the third quarter, Anna stemmed the bleeding of giveaways and started stringing passes together long enough to get some open looks.
“Ryhlan Platfoot came in and did a heck of the job handling the ball,” Barhorst said. “That kid is really starting to step up for us and is probably gonna have to get more time. And then we did a better job of moving the basketball. He got us into the offense, then we started cutting and finding guys.”
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Cordonnier offered another explanation of the third quarter from Russia’s point of view.
“I told the kids after the quarter, ‘Defensively that was a lazy quarter,’” he said. “I told them not to look at the scoreboard. The task remains the same no matter if it’s a five-point lead or a 25-point lead.”
Raider Zeb Schulze scores despite his view being blocked by Anna’s Rhylan Platfoot.
There’s a lot of truth to both sides. Anna made some cuts to get open that Russia normally locks down and didn’t. But without a spark in the ball handling, Anna wouldn’t have even gotten to the point of running sets on offense.
The fourth quarter dwindled as both teams cycled through bench players. The main point of interest was watching the score inch closer to replicating Tuesday’s score exactly. But after Anna scored with 18 seconds to match its total of 36, Russia dribbled out the clock, sparing us from calculating the odds of teams playing consecutive games with identical scores.
Both teams will compete Sunday at Fort Loramie’s MLK Classic. Russia plays Tri-Village in the weekend’s headliner, and Anna faces Tiffin Calvert in the final game of the evening.
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No team has come closer than a 15-point deficit to scratching Russia’s perfect record. With just eight games left, it’s not too soon for fans to start thinking about perfection. Yet there are plenty of tests left on the schedule, not the least of which is back-to-back days hosting Fort Loramie and Marion Local to close the season.
“There’s a lot of outside noise,” Borchers said. “But we just keep our heads down and work hard in practice every day. We know with our chemistry and how hard we work it’ll take us far.”
An even greedier fan may ponder that chemistry and experience and thinking beyond regular season perfection, to a flawless season all the way to the now more accessible state championship game. But Cordonnier’s crew doesn’t have the privilege of thinking tha far ahead.”
“We’re not undefeated,” York said. “Even if we are undefeated, we’re really not. You can’t think that way, and you can’t look forward any further than Sunday.”
Raider Jaxon Grogean pressures Anna’s Rhylan Platfoot in Friday’s Russia win.
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