CIRCLEVILLE — Logan Elm had to survive a comeback by visiting McClain to advance 51-40 in the Southeast District Division IV tournament Monday night.
The win sends the Braves, the No. 7 seed in the district, down to Ohio University Sunday afternoon to take on No. 2 seed Unioto.
The Braves came out on fire, putting in a couple of free throws and then hitting their first four shots from the field for a 13-0 lead four minutes into the game, behind three threes from Owen Russell. The period ended with a 15-6 score.
“I thought Owen Russell came out and shot it with a ton of confidence,” LE coach Nate Dropsey said. “And Brady (Neff) did a good job of finding him. Brady’s done that for us consistently, is when one of either (Russell) or (Kelton Bennington) gets going, he finds them.”
The 10th-seeded Tigers did a better job keeping the Braves under control in the second and the half ended with a 23-16 LE lead.
After only one turnover in the first half, LE had five in the third quarter as McClain closed the gap to 27-25 heading to the final period.
“We had talked all week about they’re a good defensive team; they’re physical,” Dropsey said. “They can put a ton of ball pressure on it using their quickness and their strength. And they came out and did that. And we didn’t handle that real well.
“That’s something, as we move forward, and now with Unioto, I mean, Unioto puts a ton of ball pressure on. So, that’s something that we have to get cleaned up really quickly.”
Connor Chandler opened the fourth with a three to give the Tigers their only lead of the game at 28-27.
Logan Elm responded with back-to-back threes from Bennington.
After Hudson Lovett hit a three for McClain, LE’s Ethon Manson scored off an offensive rebound and then converted a three-point play 30 seconds later. A steal of the inbounds after the free throw led to a basket for Bennington and 40-31 LE lead.
McClain got it back to five on baskets from Lucas Banks and Elijah Storer before Bennington hit another three.
Jordan Bell had a three-point play to close to five points again.
LE closed out the final two minutes going 5-6 at the line and adding another three from Russell wrapped around a basket from Chandler.
“They took the lead there and I thought we did a pretty good job of not coming down and panicking,” Dropsey said. ”We were able to try to get something for Owen and Kelton in those sets, and obviously Kelton got open.”
Lovett was the Tigers’ (6-16) top scorer with 13 points.
The Braves (13-10) had four players reach double figures led by Russell with 14 and Bennington with 13. Neff and Manson had 10.
“Ethan Manson had a tremendous game tonight,” Dropsey said. “He really played well in the post for us. I’m really proud of how he stepped up tonight and played.”
Now the Braves have Unioto (18-3) awaiting them in a district semifinal Sunday. Tip-off is set for 5:30 at the Convocation Center on the campus of Ohio University.
“That is always a goal is making it down to the Convo,” Dropsey said. “ With this group, a couple have been down there before, so it’s not going to be quite as much of a shock to them when they walk in there.
“We want to go down there, we want to play well, we want to compete, and put the best product on the floor that we can.”
Logan Elm 51, McClain 40
McClain — Brady Binegar 1-0-2, Lucas Banks 3-0-8, Jordan Bell 2-1-5, Connor Chandler 3-0-8, Hudson Lovett 5-2-13, Elijah Storer 2-0-4. Three-point goals — Banks (2), Chandler (2), Lovett. Totals — 16-42 3-3 40.
Logan Elm — Zane Seimer 1-0-2, Kelton Bennington 4-2-13, Doren Patton 1-0-2, Brady Neff 4-2-10, Owen Russell 4-2-14, Ethon Manson 4-2-10. Three-point goals — Bennington (3), Russell (4). Totals — 18-40 8-10 51.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
McClain 6 10 9 15 40
Logan Elm 15 8 4 24 51