Trotwood-madison cruises in Division II semifinal

Running and gunning at will, Trotwoodmadison trounced Akron Buchtel 102-72 in a Division II state semifinal Thursday at Value City Arena.

It marked the 14th time this season the Rams, who came into the game scoring 101.3 points per game, topped 100. Trotwood fans were busy snapping photos of the Jumbotron when the latest feat was achieved with 1:10 remaining.

State player of the year Amari Davis scored 33 points to pace Trotwood-madison, which finished just four points short of the state semifinal record for points scored. Carl Blanton added 21.

Trotwood scored 72 points in the paint and 44 as the result of 30 Buchtel turnovers.

Ronnell Perie II led five players in double figures for Buchtel (20-8) with 16 points.

Trotwood-madison (27-2) will attempt to end a streak of bad luck at the state tournament when it faces South (28-1) in the title game at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Rams ousted South 79-60 in a regional semifinal last season at Kettering Fairmont.

Trotwood-madison has been to the final four five times but only made the title game once, losing to Canton Mckinley 63-33 in 2006. The Rams were knocked out in the semifinals in 2014, 2017 and 2018.

Cleveland Heights Lutheran East 58, Oregon Cardinal Stritch 53

Lutheran East withstood a late charge and held off Stritch to reach the Division III final.

E.J. Farmer scored 15 points and Nehemiah Benson added 12 for Lutheran East (20-8), which won the title in 2017 and lost in a semifinal last season. The Falcons built a fivepoint halftime lead to 14 late in the third quarter.

Aided by a 12-2 run, Stritch (24-4) twice in the final two minutes cut the deficit to three. Jhaiden Wilson’s offbalance three-point try with 6 seconds left caromed off the backboard.

“Our guys competed hard,” Lutheran East coach Sam Liggins said. “Late in the game, you want the clock to move and it just seemed to be stopped all the time. And we took some shots I’d like to take back. I’ve got a young group of players. I had to remind them to just control the game, show poise and just finish this.”

Joey Holifield had 22 points and Little Anderson 16 for Stritch, which shot just 33.3 percent (18 of 54) from the field.

“I really felt like the difference was when they pushed the lead from five to eight to 10 to 14 there in the third quarter,” Stritch coach Jamie Kachmarik said. “We created some energy with our trapping and pressing and made a nice comeback. But coming from that deficit expended a lot of energy. We kind of ran out of gas.”