D-VI Boys Basketball: Columbia solves East Canton zone, advances to districts

COLUMBIA STATION – No. 14-seeded Columbia didn't know much about No. 26-seeded East Canton coming into its Division VI sectional final Thursday night, but it didn't take the Raiders long to figure out the Hornets. After back-and-forth scoring for the first 11 minutes, Columbia created some room on the scoreboard in the second period against the Hornets zone defense and then pulled away in the second half for a 64-46 win over East Canton. The Raiders improved to 13-10 overall and Monday will travel to second-seeded Orwell Grand Valley, which advanced with a win over Open Door. "I like the super districts because you can get a path out, but on the opposite side, you play teams you know nothing about," Columbia coach Josh Scharf said of their unfamiliar opponent. "We knew they (Hornets) were going to play zone and if we could get them out of that to play man, we would be good." East Canton's aggressive 2-3 zone slowed Columbia down some, as the Hornets ended the first eight minutes of play with a 12-10 lead thanks in part to Owen McCroskey, who scored 12 of his team-high 20 points. The Raiders found the perfect balance of inside-outside scoring in the second period as 6-foot-4 junior Mason Bledsoe dropped in eight of his 12 points, all in the paint, while Logan Menge drilled a pair of 3-pointers to help Columbia take a 26-19 lead at the half. "We knew that their (East Canton) 2-3 zone could give us problems, and they were more aggressive than I thought they would be," said Menge, who finished with a game-high 25 points, including four makes from behind the arc. "We knew that if we started hitting our shots to get them out of the zone, we knew we could beat their man defense." The Raiders continued to play inside-out through the third as the Hornets stayed in the zone with Bledsoe getting four more points, Ambrose Beach chipping in four, Dylan Fisher adding five and Menge hitting another 3-ball for a commanding 42-26 lead. "I think it took us a little while to adjust to their 2-3 zone just because it was more aggressive than we expected," said Fisher, who finished with 15 points. "We were good at being patient and finding the open spots in the zone. We kept our composure and kept making baskets." The Hornets (5-18) got a couple of 3-pointers from Aydan Stephens and McCroskey to end the third, but Fisher negated those to start the fourth with five points. Menge added a pair of baskets to finish the fourth period with 11 points against East Canton's man-to-man defense. "They (Hornets) want the game to be in the 30s and we want the game to be in the 60s," Scharf said. "Our volume of shots was good, we don't always make them, but the more we take, the more we are going to succeed." Contact James Brady at jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Columbia 64, East Canton 46 EAST CANTON (46): Rocco Stefanick 1-0-3, Rayshawn Heard 2-1-5, Owen McCroskey 8-0-20, Ayden Stephens 3-2-10, Eli Starnes 2-0-4, Aidan Kandel 1-0-2, Alex Clark 1-0-2. Totals 18-3-46. COLUMBIA (64): Jack Washburn 3-0-6, Logan Menge 7-5-23, Dylan Fisher 5-2-15, Graham Ross 0-0-0, Ambrose Beach 2-0-4, Ryan Smith 0-0-0, Carter Hess 1-0-2, Mason Bledsoe 6-0-12. Totals 25-7-64. East Canton 12 7 13 14 — 46Columbia 10 16 18 20 — 64 Three-point goals: East Canton 7-18 (39 percent, McCroskey 4, Stephens 2, Stefanick), Columbia 7-19 (37 percent, Menge 4, Fisher 3); Field goals: East Canton 18-42 (43 percent); Columbia 25-48 (52 percent); Free throws: East Canton 3-7 (43 percent); Columbia 7-12 (58 percent); Rebounds: East Canton 22, Columbia 31; Turnovers: East Canton 14, Columbia 8; Fouled Out: None