Just a tease…Russia’s Dominic Francis puts the finishing touches on the Raiders’ 60-42 Saturday win over Versailles. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
They played like a team that’s good enough to play as well as they need to on a given night against any given opponent. Different from last year’s state semi-finalists, but still with that ‘extra gear’.
Verailles, OH – They packed the spacious Versailles gym Saturday night, as expected. Russia-Versailles is one of the state’s best backyard rivalries in basketball – a veritable who’s-who of extended families and first cousins.
Someone said all the Monnins, Borchers, Francises, and Goubeauxs within fifty miles was there, all related, and all basketball fans.
It was more anticipated than usual, as Russia came in undefeated, ranked #2 in the state in Division VII, seeking its third consecutive state Final Four in basketball – one of the fast-growing topics of February discussion in area basketball. How good is this Russia team, compared to the others.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and the Buckeyes for Press Pros Magazine.
VPP Industries helps your business grow. Let us help you deliver your message.
Versailles was coming off a drubbing Friday night against Division VII #1 Delphos St. John, an 81-48 head-spinner that twenty four hours simply wasn’t adequate to put behind. Still, at 14-5, the Tigers are athletic and adequate to ambush any unsuspecting favorite. And Russia certainly represented nothing less than…a suspecting, unsuspecting favorite.
That much didn’t happen. Russia proved its ranking with a 60-42 comfortable win that may have lacked the fireworks of typical Raiders transition basketball, but it proved that they were nonetheless capable of playing capably against a team dedicated to keeping from that ‘extra gear’.
Versailles challenged Russia at the rim to start the game…Drake Ahrens blocking the shot attempt of Russia’s Vince Borchers.
In the meantime, Spencer Cordonnier’s Raiders showed their athleticism and size, keeping the Versailles offense in check without any fireworks at all. As expected, guard Drake Ahrens scored his customary 15 points, and teammate Blake Monnin matched him, but they had little support. Ahrens and Monnin would score 30 of the Tigers’ total of 42 points.
For eight minutes it was highly competitive. Versailles, in fact, scored the game’s first points and challenged Russia’s superior size in the paint, turning away drives to the rim and forcing Russia to at least consider the perimeter.
But Russia was adequate to the challenge. Braylon Cordonnier and Ben York each canned a three-pointer, and Vince Borchers found enough space at the rim to score 6 points and Russia opened up a 14-9 lead.
Kremer Roofing supports your favorite MAC sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.
In the second quarter they showed their depth and ability to find the open man and other ways to score. Jaxon Grojean opened with a pair of three-pointers, scored eight in the quarter, and Cordonnier complemented those eight with six of his own to help the Raiders open a 32-19 halftime lead.
Russia is a team with eleven seniors out of thirteen on its roster, and whoever it was that first said that coaches value their seniors did it for a reason. The 32 points seemed to come with both plan and purpose. Take what the defense allows…find the open man…protect the rim on defense…run when you can…and be patient for your advantage to kick in. It not only felt instinctive, but there was a sense that they would find the extra gear of 2023 and ’24 in the second half.
Versailles’ Blake Monnin attacked the paint to help keep the Tigers in striking distance before the half.
Versailles had other ideas.
Travis Swank’s Tigers dug in on defense…showed some patience of their own on offense…only to find that points come hard against a team like Russia when you don’t get help from the three-point shot and you don’t score in transition. Drake Ahrens did his best, getting to the rim enough to score 6 in the third quarter, but again, only Blake Monnin (2) and Ethan Wilker (2) could score with him. The defense, however, held Russia to a lone 3-pointer from Ben York, and 11 points for the quarter and the deficit remained 43-29 entering the fourth.
Good as Versailles is for having 14 wins, there was little sense of a comeback as Russia finally got a couple of transition buckets, found some open men, spread it around and punctuated the anticipation of that extra gear with a pretty ally-oop dunk connection between Braylon Cordonnier and Dominic Francis, pulling away to the eventual 60-42 conclusion.
Impressively, the Raiders claimed their 18th win by finishing with four in double figures, proving they can win in the halfcourt on that given day against any given opponent. Vince Borchers had 16, Dominic Francis had 13, Ben York had 12, and Braylon Cordonnier had 11 points…52 of their 60 points.
The Phelan Agency, in Versailles, proudly sponsors area sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.
For Versailles, Ahrens and Monnin had 30 of their 42 points, and the satisfaction, as Travis Swank would later say, of having played against as good an opponent as they’re likely to see in preparing for the tournament. “It was a good learning experience,” he said.
Russia didn’t set the gym on fire, but shot 44.6% from the floor and hit 11 of 16 from the foul line.
Versailles’ Jace Watren splits a pair of Russia defenders on his way to the rim in Saturday’s loss to the Raiders.
Versailles would end up shooting 42% from the field, and 50% from the foul line (4 of 8), content with the reality of not getting blown out…but frustrated by the kind of obstacle that Russia proved in preventing them from getting more than 42 points.
And for those who will read on Sunday morning, anticipating a diagnosis on just how good Russia might be on that given night…think again. Spencer Cordonnier would like to know for himself.
“We never got into the transition game tonight,” he said with a smile. “They’ve got a couple of good guards that can exploit things if you let them get by you, defensively. So we played things by ear. We’re good enough to sit down in the halfcourt and just guard people. So we’ll feel some things out, we may do some runnin’ and jumpin’, and we may not.
“Now if we get the rebound we’ve got to go. We’ve got to rebound very well, and when we do we’ve got to get out and go…push things. This isn’t the same team that we’ve had, and we’ve found out this year that we can play in the halfcourt. We can play a possession game. So I say to our guys…we’re going to score. So are we going to defend? And we defended tonight.”
But they might get to that extra gear, right?
“We can from time to time,” he smiled. “We just haven’t done it for four quarters.”
A frustrating weekend for Travis Swank, he was gracious, as always, to pay tribute to Russia while seeing the glass half full for his own team.
“It was a tough weekend, but it gets us ready for a bigger prize at the end of the year,” he said. “So you want to play tough teams to see where you stand and the two teams we played this weekend have a really good shot at being in the Final Four.”
Kaup Pharmacy proudly sponsors amateur baseball on Press Pros Magazine.com.
And he could take some satisfaction over not allowing Russia to, indeed, find that extra gear.
“Part of our game plan was to make sure we got back on defense,” he allowed. “They love to get out and go in transition and at times we did a good job of frustrating them. We just couldn’t sustain it for 32 minutes.”
He could use a day off, and justified, after being outscored 141 to 90 over a twenty four hour stretch.
“Nah,” he said with a smile. “I’ll be watching some film on Sunday. We’ve got Fort Recovery coming in.”
So it’s February, and basketball is getting good. And Travis Swank had the expected hiccup this weekend, hoping to learn more about how good his Tigers might yet be.
As for Russia? At 18-0 the anticipation builds over when we might see the ‘real’ Russia. But this we know…a lot of people are waiting.
Spencer Cordonnier, included.
Some night soon…for all four quarters!
We’ll make it worth your drive. But your next truck from Dave Arbogast, in Troy.