Findlay beats Central Catholic, secures share of TRAC championship

By DAVE HANNEMAN Staff WriterJim Rucki's reaction was subdued, controlled, even a bit cautious when Findlay High assistant Aaron Roth entered the coach's office and said Toledo St. John's was 17 points up on Lima Senior in the fourth quarter. It didn't change a minute later when Don Korecky, Findlay High's scorekeeper, delivered an update — St. John's up 25, just over five minutes to play. Rucki's inside might have been doing somersaults. On the outside, he displayed a business-as-usual demeanor that, especially on this night, was just what Findlay needed. "I'm good at only worrying about things that I can control, so we didn't say a thing about the TRAC or St. John's or Lima (Senior)," Rucki said. "We just wanted to come out and play tonight. That's it. We knew if our guys came out and got our part of the job done, and if the other part happens that would be the cherry on top of the season." Cherries are nice. But a Three Rivers Athletic Conference championship trophy will look even nicer in the display case after Findlay beat Toledo Central Catholic 56-39 on Friday. Thanks to St. John's 63-41 win over Lima Senior, Findlay's victory earned the Trojans a share of the TRAC title. Findlay, 15-3 after posting its ninth consecutive win, finished TRAC play with a 6-1 league record. St. John's (12-4, 5-1 TRAC) handed Lima Senior (16-3, 6-1) its only league loss of this bizarre COVID commandeered, schedule-altering season, but still needs to beat Oregon Clay today to earn its share of the 2020-21 title. Based on overall records, Findlay entered Friday's game as a heavy favorite against Toledo Central Catholic, now 4-10 overall and 1-5 in the TRAC. But Rucki knows nothing comes easy, especially when TRAC championships are on the line and you're up against a team like Central Catholic. "We told our guys they lost nine games: two to St. John's, two to Lima (Senior), one to (Toledo) St. Francis, one to Gahanna (Lincoln, ranked No. 7 in Division I), one to (Cleveland Heights) Lutheran East (No. 2 in Division III) ... They're physical, they're aggressive and they are going to compete hard," Rucki said. "It was a physical game. Our guys battled, they played hard, they competed ... I'm happy to come away with a win." Findlay dominated early against a young, rebuilding TCC team that started two juniors, three sophomores and has just one senior on the varsity roster. The Trojans led 8-1, 12-3, 16-7 in the first quarter, then expanded their edge to 22-7 early in second on two baskets by Chris Strzempka and another by A.J. Adams. Findlay was still up by 15 after two baskets by Dylan Ankney, the first off an assist from Adams, then again on an assist from Sam Weihrauch. Central Catholic may be young and rebuilding. But the Irish consistently roll out some of the most talented players in the league. During one stretch, when Findlay's lead nearly disappeared along with its hopes of a TRAC title, that talent showed. TCC ended the first half on a 7-0 run fueled by 6-3 sophomore guard Chico Johnson. The Irish opened the second half with another 7-0 burst with Johnson, who led the Irish with 13 points, burying a 3-pointer, 6-6 junior Sam Lee scoring inside, and 6-8 sophomore Ja'Vaughn Jones putting back his own miss. Rucki called a timeout at the 5:49 mark of third quarter when Findlay's lead had dwindled to a single point. The Trojans regrouped. Then they got back to business Max Roth nailed a 3-pointer right out of the time out, Ankney scored off a nice feed from Adams, then again after stealing the ball right under Findlay's basket. Roth hit in a short pull-up jumper and Adams converted on Findlay's end after Ankney blocked Lee's shot on the other, putting Findlay back up by 10 (38-28) heading into the fourth quarter. Central Catholic got within seven (38-31), but Findlay outscored the Irish 18-11 in the final period to win going away. "We got off to a good start, then lost some focus and got a little bit out of sync," Rucki said. "We weathered the storm, though. Once they got it to one (26-25) we made a couple of good plays, we hit some 3s and we were able to stretch things out." Drew Ankney, who missed his junior season due to an injury but has had some monster games since moving into the starting lineup in a mid-January matchup at Oregon Clay, scored 18 points and hauled down nine rebounds. "We came in here knowing we had to get it done," Ankney said after the game and before the results of the St. John's/Lima Senior game were known. "Things started to slip there in the third quarter. But we executed, we kept to our game plan, we kept our poise. All we could control was what we did, and hopefully St. John's could win." Roth scored 12 points, Adams had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Brock Makrancy netted eight points. Findlay's TRAC title is the first in boys basketball since 2011-12, the first year the league was in existence. "I'm proud of what we've been able to do here," said Rucki, who has never had a losing record in his 23 seasons as FHS coach. "We've done it with a lot of different kids, a lot of good kids willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team. "If we do get a piece of this championship, I hope all those guys who played for us are proud of the part they all played in our program." Friday's game wrapped up the regular season. Findlay's will host Springfield in a Division I sectional tournament game Friday. In Friday's early games, Jake Bishop scored 18 points and Vince Himebaugh had 13 as Findlay junior varsity team completed a 15-3 season by beating TCC's reserves 67-53. Findlay's freshman team completed a perfect 19-0 season with a 47-29 victory in Friday's opening game. TOLEDO CENT. CATH (11-4, 4-1 TRAC) Thames 1-3 1-2 3, Jones 4-8 0-0 8, Johnson 5-15 2-6 13, Komivs 2-6 2-5 7, S. Lee 4-6 0-0 8, Brenneman 0-0 0-0 0, Bishop 0-3 0-0 0, Pike 0-1 0-0 0, J. Lee 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-43 5-13—39. FINDLAY (14-3, 5-1 TRAC) J. Roth 0-1 0-0 0, M. Roth 3-9 2-4 10, Strzempka 2-7 0-0- 4, Ankney 1-5 2-2 4, Adams 8-12 4-6 20, Makrancy 3-5 0-0 8, Weihrauch 0-0 0-0 0, Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Bishop 0-0 1-1 3. TOTALS: 18-41 8-12—49. Toledo Cen. Cath. &emsp;&emsp;7 11 10 11 — 39 Findlay &emsp;&emsp;16 10 12 18 — 56 3-Point GOALS: Toledo Central Catholic 2-18 (Thames 0-2, Jons 0-1, Bishop 0-3, Johnson 1-8, Komives 1-4); Findlay 5-9 (M. Roth 2-4, Strzempka 0-1, Bishop 1-1, Makrancy 2-3). REBOUNDS: Toledo Central Catholic 27 (Jones 10, S. Le 5); Findlay 28 (Ankney 10, Adams 4). TURNOVERS: Toledo Central Catholic 9, Findlay 10. JUNIOR VARSITY: Findlay, 67-53. FRESHMEN: Findlay, 47-29.