Reynolds, Birnesser navigate Bulldogs to state finals

DAYTON – Glenwood's Brady Voiers was an unexpected spark for New Boston on Friday.In the end, though, it was the firepower of two Columbus Grove veterans that earned the Bulldogs a hard-fought 58-53 win in the Division IV boys state semifinal at the University of Dayton Arena."Our guys made plays down the stretch, like you'd expect from four seniors, two of whom have played close to 100 varsity games of basketball," said Columbus Grove Grove coach Chris Sautter."You want your guys to make those kind of plays, and Blake and Tayt did a good job of that for us."Up by eight (16-8) in the first quarter but trailing by 10 (44-34) late in the third, Columbus Grove got its first spark when Gabe Clement calmly sized up his shot and tossed in a half-court 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer.Blake Reynolds and Tayt Birnesser, both 4-year lettermen and among the leading career scores in Grove basketball history, then stepped up.Reynolds, a 6-foot-4 forward, converted an and-one 3-point play, then nailed a 3-pointer and finally hit both ends of a one-and-one opportunity to trim what had been a 48-37 deficit to 48-46.Reynolds made the two free throws after out-battling Glenwood's all-Ohio standout Kyle Sexton for a rebound. It was Sextons's fifth foul of the game.Voiers, a 5-11 junior and the the sixth man on a rather slim Glenwood lineup, filled in stunningly for the 6-5 Sexton, driving and spinning for one basket, converting one of two free throws, then driving the lane for another basket to keep Glenwood up 53-49.Birnesser, a 6-3 guard with over 220 career 3-pointers, nailed back-to-back 3's, the second cutting Grove's deficit to 53-52 with 2:28 on the clock.With Sexton on the Glenwood bench, Reynolds twice got free inside for lay-ins that put Grove up 54-53, then padded that edge to 56-53.Clements scored on a jail-break press-beater for the final margin that earned the Bulldogs (25-2), state runner-up in 2006, a spot in Sunday's 10:45 a.m. state championship game against Botkins (26-3). The Trojans also rallied late in their semifinal to knock off Richmond Heights, 44-40.Reynolds, a two-time Northwest Conference Player of the Year who has scored over 1,500 career points, added a game-high 22 to that total on Friday. Birnesser, who has scored over 1,300 career points, had 14 and Clement had 12.Sexton, a three-time Northeast Lakes District Player of the Year who has scored over 1,700 career points, had 14 to lead Glenwood (24-3). Devon Jones had 12 and Voiers netted nine, all in the second half."Grove played great in the fourth quarter," said Glenwood coach Adam Cox."They dialed it up when they had to. That's what great teams do."Columbus Grove shredded Glenwood's defense early getting several inside baskets to penetration dish-passes by Reynolds.Glenwood answered with 3-pointers, but in the second quarter the dynamics changed. Against a Glenwood zone Grove looked more for the 3-pointer, but connected on just 1-of-6 attempts. That allowed Glenwood to creep back intoi it, then surge ahead with an 18-10 edge in the third quarter."When we cut the deficit from eight points to one, then won the third quarter, I told the boys, 'I think we can win this,'" Cox said."Then No. 5 (Clement) hit that half-court shot, and that gave them momentum. And things definitely changed when we lost our all-state player. I thought we had a chance to pull it out, but without the best player in Division IV out, it would be a tough challenge. Sautter said the Bulldogs practice half-court shots often. There's usually a Gatorade riding on the shot, but the huge momentum swing it gave the Bulldogs Friday was worth much more."We scored 18 points in the first quarter, then for two-and-a-half quarters it seemed like we forgot how to score," Sautter said."(Glenwood) was mixing up defenses, challenging our shots, making it tough for us. We had a stretch where we were not very good offensively, but I think our experience paid off with our guys making some big plays down the stretch."Beaten in the state semifinals in football, Columbus Grove is headed to the state final in basketball."The regional three times in basketball, state semifinals in football," it's a matter of going out and executing our game plan," said Clement, an all-state receiver/defenve back in football.Reynolds, the Bulldogs' quarterback in football, put Sunday's final in perspective as well."We're here," Reynolds said, "so we might as well make the most of it." GLENWOOD (24-3)Jones 6-14 0-1 12, Jackson 2-5 1-1 5, T. Voiers 3-7 0-0 6, Sexton 5-13 3-3 14, Clark 3- 0-0 7, B. Voiers 3-6 2-4 9. TOTALS: 22-48 6-9–53COLUMBUS GROVE (25-2)Reynolds 8-13 5-6 22, T. Birnesser 4-6 2-2 14, Clement 5-7 0-0 12, Sautter 1-3 0-0 2, Halker 3-5 0-0 6, Schroeder 1-6 0-0 2, B. Birnesser 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 22-41 7-8–58.Glenwood 12 14 18 9 –53Columbus Grove 18 9 10 21–583-POINT GOALS: Glenwood 3-9 (Jones 0-2, Jackson 0-1, T. Voiers 0-2, Sexton 1-1, Clark 1-1, B. Voiers 1-2); Columbus Grove 7-17 (Reynolds 1-3, T. Birnesser 4-6, Clement 2-4, Sautter 0-2, Schroeder 0-1, B. Birnesser 0-1). REBOUNDS: Glenwood 25 (Sexton 9); Columbus Grove 22 (Halker 7, Reynolds 6, Clement 5).TURNOVERS: Glenwood 8, Columbus Grove 11.