By Brad Morris
SportingPumpkin.com
Whenever Logan Elm needed a basket on Saturday, junior forward Carson Summers almost always delivered.
Summers shot a sizzling 11 of 14 (78.6 percent) from the field and scored a career-high 25 points to help lead the Braves to a 41-31 win over visiting McClain in a Division II Southeast District sectional quarterfinal.
“I can’t say enough about the way Carson stepped up and shot the basketball with confidence,” Logan Elm coach Doug Stiverson said. “Carson has picked up his offense down the stretch here for us and you can see his confidence growing by the game.
“Our guys did a nice job of getting Carson the basketball and he got us going in the first half and then made some absolutely huge baskets during the second half.”
Nemiah Waugh followed with 10 points and six rebounds for the Braves, and Drew Tomlinson accounted for six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Summers also chipped in five rebounds.
Summers made all three field goals he attempted during the first quarter to help the Braves out to an 8-5 lead.
Transition layups off of McClain turnovers by Gage Arnett and Summers helped the Braves push their advantage to 12-5 early in the second quarter.
Logan Elm seemed position to go into halftime with a 16-7 lead, but McClain’s Jordan Bell drained a triple from the right wing to beat the buzzer.
McClain used that momentum-shifting three coming out of halftime to eventually tie the game at 22-22, following a layup from Andrew Potts.
Summers responded with back-to-back threes from the left wing to give the Braves leads of 25-22 and 28-24.
“Those threes were clutch shots and Carson just seemed to shoot with more confidence every time he touched the basketball,” Stiverson said.
Seth Weller opened the fourth with a triple for the Tigers, but the Braves countered with a 13-4 run to close out the tournament win.
Waugh drained a pair of three throws and later scored on a layup. Summers then knocked down a triple from the right wing and drove to the basket for two more, putting the Braves ahead 37-31 with 2:19 remaining.
“Nemiah had a nice spurt there to start the fourth and also knocked down some big free throws later to help seal things for us,” Stiverson said. “We also needed Nemiah to step up and help out rebounding the basketball and he did that, as well.”
From there, Waugh connected on four free throws to send the senior class of Tomlinson, Gavin Griffey, Tanner Holbert and Braylen Baker out as winners in their last home game on the hardwood of Spangler Memorial Gymnasium.
“It’s nice to send our seniors out as winners in their last home game,” Stiverson said. “Our seniors are a tight knit group that hang out a lot both on-and-off the court.
“It’s been a tough year for them, especially for Tanner missing the season and Braylen most of the season with injuries, but that group has done a nice job of leading our basketball team.”
McClain was held scoreless for the final three minutes and 18 seconds on five missed shots and a turnover.
Weller led the way with 10 points and Potts added nine for the Tigers (5-18).
The Braves were 16 of 36 (44.4 percent) from the field, compared to the Tigers hitting 10 of 30 (33.3 percent) attempts. Logan Elm held a 27-20 advantage on the glass.
“I was pretty pleased with the way our guys played defense and also how they battled for rebounds,” Stiverson said.
The Braves (9-14) advance to a sectional semifinal on Wednesday at Mid-State League Buckeye Division co-champion Fairfield Union (19-3). The Falcons prevailed in both regular-season meetings.
“Our guys were either playing their first significant tournament minutes tonight or their first significant tournament minutes in new roles,” Stiverson said. “I felt like we were a little tentative early on, but now since we got our feet wet, hopefully we go over to Fairfield Union and settle in, play tough and compete as hard as we can.
“I’ve been proud of the way this group has competed, battled and persevered all season.”
Division II Southeast District
sectional quarterfinal
No. 15 Logan Elm 41,
No. 18 McClain 31
MCCLAIN — Seth Weller 4-0-10, Jordan Bell 1-0-3, Riley Cummins 0-1-1, Owen Sykes 1-4-6, Josiah Burchett 1-0-2, Andrew Potts 3-3-9. Three-point goals — Weller (2) and Bell. Total — 10-30 8-12 31.
LOGAN ELM — Gage Arnett 1-0-2, Carson Summers 11-0-25, Nemiah Waugh 4-6-14. Three-point goals — Summers (3). Total — 16-36 6-7 41.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
McClain 5 5 14 7 31
Logan Elm 8 8 12 13 41
