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Versailles
senior Mitchell Campbell scored 13 Tuesday night against
Northridge in sectional semi-final
action at Tecumseh High School.
Versailles rolled to a 74-52 victory. CNO File Photo by Dylan Knoop
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V-Tigers put
Polar Bears on ice
Ahrens nets 19 to lead the way
By George Starks
NEW CARLISLE- Once the Versailles Tigers got the ball rolling against
Northridge Tuesday, it was like a run away freight train.
Living to play another day in the OHSAA state tournament, the Tigers
broke out a can of spinach on Northridge, rolling to a 74-52 victory.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter how many points you score, it’s if
you make it to the next round or not,” said Versailles coach Scott
McEldowney. “”We did some really nice things tonight. We had a chance
to play against their quickness. They matched up with our team speed.
Not too many teams we played this year were able to do that.”
Leading 18-15 after one quarter of play, the Tiger offense went to
work. The second eight minutes proved to be huge for Versailles and too
much for Northridge. Outscoring the Bears 18-10 in the frame, the
Tigers led 36-25 at the break.
Moreover, it was the play of junior Chad Winner that help steamroll the
Bears. Winner scored 10 of his 15 total points in the frame, helping to
lead Versailles into the locker room at the break.
Eighteen seemed to be the magic number for the Tigers as Versailles
netted 18 more in the third to pull away, 54-39.
“We had to be patient on offense after the first quarter,” said
McEldowney. “We wanted to attack off the break but make sure we got
really good shots because we thought they had trouble guarding us in
the half-court. They wanted us to shoot early and take some tough shots
early in the offense and we just needed to be a little more patient and
get the good looks we wanted to get. Chad (Winner) stepped up and hit
some big shots and we were able to get the ball inside to Mitchell
(Campbell). Kyle (Ahrens) hit some big buckets and Zach (Niekamp) hit
two big three’s for us back to back. Just to get the scoring from so
many areas was nice to see.”
Led by the freshman Ahrens with 19 points, Versailles had four in
double figures as Winner netted 15, Campbell 13 and Dominic Richard
with 10 in a balanced attack.
“I was pretty pleased with everything we did tonight,” said McEldowney.
There was one thing in the box score I don’t like but we will keep
working on it.”
That one thing was a 10 of 18 shooting performance from the foul line
by the Tigers.
“That is not us,” said McEldowney. “A lot of teams that bow out in
close games in the tournament, it’s because of poor foul shooting and
we have to take care of business there.”
The Tigers will take on Dixie Friday at the University of Dayton Arena
in the sectional final. Tip is set for 7:30. Dixie beat Carlisle 55-48
Tuesday night.
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