Findlay boys take weekend games to Max

It was a big weekend for senior Max Roth. One night after scoring 41 points and being the catalyst in a big comeback win over Fremont Ross, the senior reached a milestone in another Findlay High victory. Roth scored 18 points and had a couple dunks as the Trojans dominated Tiffin Columbian, 80-42 Saturday, and reach 1,000 career points just before halftime. Not a bad Senior Night for Roth, or his teammates. It was a big emotional weekend," said Roth, who is set to play basketball at the University of Findlay. "(Friday) night we really struggled, so we came out tonight and we bounced back a lot. "I felt comfortable, got the 1,000, and it was a really big moment." Findlay coach Jim Rucki said Roth is something special. "He's probably the most explosive athlete we've had here in my time," said Rucki, who's been coaching at FHS since the 1999-2000 season. "He worked on his game, he worked on his shooting in the offseason, took that to a higher level. He's got the best hands of anybody we've ever had, probably. Glad he's on our side." Columbian scored the first six points of Saturday's game, and Findlay led just 15-13 after the first quarter. But after that, it was all Trojans (16-5). In fact, the only thing that went wrong was that the team lost Luke Montgomery – who's making his decision on where to play college football this week –- to an injury. Rucki said he didn't have much information on Montgomery after the game. Findlay outscored Columbian 26-11 in the second quarter, and led 41-24 at the half. The onslaught continued in the third quarter. After Columbian's Logan Beaston hit a 3 to cut the FHS advantage to 45-29, the Trojans closed the period on a 13-2 run, a stretch in which they connected on five consecutive field goals. Brock Makrancy and Justin Roth put an exclamation point on things when Makrancy connected on back-to-back 3s, and Justin Roth added one of his own right before the buzzer. Findlay went to the fourth up 58-31. It was a big night for Makrancy, who made five 3s and finished with 17 points. "For us to be the best team we can be, we need to be able to do what he did tonight, and make people extend their defense," Rucki said. Also for Findlay, Jake Bishop scored 14 points, and Justin Roth added nine. The Trojans were hot from the floor, making 30 of 49 field goals. They were 13 of 19 from 3-point range. "We found people that came off the bench that had big roles tonight, and they really took over in their spots," Max Roth said. "Brock Makrancy played really well...that was really big for us." Rucki agreed. "We put it together and I thought we played really well," he said. "That was some of our best basketball this year." That wasn't the case for Columbian (15-5), which saw its five game winning streak snapped. Bryce Burns led the Tornadoes with 13 points. Beaston, TC's top scorer this season, was limited to eight points and seven boards. "We competed really well for one quarter, and then after that we were satisfied and didn't play with a sense of urgency," said Columbian coach Travis Kinn, a two time Midland Athletic League Player of the Year for New Riegel. "Obviously, they made some shots; a lot of those shots were because we were unaware, not engaged defensively." Findlay has won five consecutive games. It closes the regular season Friday at Toledo St. Francis. Then, the Trojans enter the postseason. They play Feb. 26 in Genoa against either Anthony Wayne or Holland Springfield. Max Roth said it's good time for Findlay to be at its best. "The start of the year, we really struggled," he said. "So, once we got these wins, got going a little bit, it's good to get into the tournament (when) you're at your highest peak of your game." And Roth is certainly at the peak of his game. FINDLAY 80COLUMBIAN 42COLUMBIAN Brayden Roggow 1-0--2; Drew Vasko 1-0-3; Bryce Burns 5-0--13; Isaac Garcia 1-0--3; Cyrus Burden 2-0--4; Jacob Weingart 1-1--3; Logan Beaston 3-1--8; Jaden Myers 3-0--6. TOTALS: 17-2-42.FINDLAY (16-5)Justin Roth 2-4--9; Terrion Ross 3-0--6; Max Roth 7-2--18; Jake Bishop 5-1--14; Sam Ernst 1-0--3; Javonte Hill 2-0--5; Brock Makrency 6-0--17; Sam Weihrauch 3-0--6; Luke Montgomery 1-0-2; TOTALS: 30-7-80.Columbian&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;11 – 42Findlay&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;26&emsp;&emsp;17&emsp;&emsp;22 – 80Field goals: Columbian 17-44; Findlay 30-49.3-Point Field Goals Columbian 6-23 (Burns 3, Vasko, Garcia, Beaston); Findlay 13-19 (Makrency 5, Bishop 3, M. Roth 2, J. Roth, Ernst, Hill).Foul shots: Columbian 2-4, Findlay 7-8.Rebounds: Columbian 27 (Beaston 7); Findlay 25 (S. Weihrauch 6, M. Roth 5).Turnovers: Columbian 18; Findlay 4.JV: Columbian 49-45.