Findlay uses strong 3-point shooting to pull away from Knights

If Jim Rucki was a betting man, he'd obviously be backing his Findlay High Trojans. And getting 3-to-2 odds in the bargain. Seven of Findlay's first half baskets were 3-pointers. Every basket for Toledo St. Francis during that span was a 2. That 3-to-2 exchange earned the Trojans a comfortable cushion, their harassing defense not only protected a lead but created the opportunities to expand it, and Findlay led wire-to-wire in a 70-39 Three Rivers Athletic Conference win at the FHS Gymnasium. "We're at our best when we shoot the ball really well," Rucki said after Findlay went 10-for-15 from 3-point range – highlighted by a lights-out 5-for-5 effort in the second quarter. "Those eight guys in our rotation, they can all make shots, every one of them." Will Cordonnier was 4-for-4 on 3-pointers, 7-for-7 from the field overall and scored a game-high 18 points. "I was feeling good," the six-five junior wing said. "My teammates were finding me and they were all wide-open looks." Jake Bishop, dogged by a box-and-one defense early in the game, still managed 15 points to increase his career total to 825 and pull within six points of Brock Ammons (831, 2016-19) for 17th place on Findlay High's career scoring list. Sam Ernst and Brody Barnes had 10 points each and Chandler Parker had eight as Findlay won its fourth straight game to climb to 14-6 overall and remain in third place (9-4) in the TRAC standings. "We're not going to scare anybody when we get off the bus," Rucki said. "But I'm so proud of the way our guys have played. They celebrate each other's good plays and they are there for each other defensively. When you're playing like that – and making shots – good things are going to happen more often than not." Bishop scored 31 points in an earlier win over St. Francis, and was a marked man on Friday. First Elvis Syroka, then Te'Lir Sanders stuck their collective chins in Bishop's chest, dogged him from end of the court to the other and tried to take him out of the offensive flow. So Ernst, whose hot hand from 3-point range and career-high 19 points were a spark in Findlay's win over Elida last Saturday, opened the game with one 3-pointer, Luke Weihrauch jacked in another and Cordonnier scored on two inside power moves as Findlay shot to a 12-6 lead. "Everybody can shoot, so when they take Jake away that leaves other people open," Cordonnier said. "We like when that happens." Findlay's fast start was only fuel for a second-quarter inferno. In the first 1:44 of the period, Cordonnier nailed two 3-pointers and Barnes one to turn a 14-8 edge into a growing 23-8 avalanche. Findlay's first five baskets of the period were 3-pointers – Barnes hitting his second and Cordonnier his third – as the lead grew exponentially. St. Francis matched Findlay basket for basket for one stretch, but Bishop converted one of two free throws, then scored when Ben Best corralled an offensive rebound, scored a second-straight basket off a Best steal, and then a third off an assist from Weihrauch. Findlay led 38-18 thanks to that 7-0 run to end the second quarter, then blew the game wide open by opening the second half with a 16-3 burst. Over the past three weeks, St. Francis (12-9, 5-8 TRAC) achieved one win over state-ranked Toledo Central Catholic and took Toledo Whitmer to the wire in a two-point loss to the league-leading Panthers. The Knights struggled against Findlay, though, shooting just 36.6 percent from the field (15-42) and going 4-for-16 on 3-point attempts. "For us, it still starts with defense, and I think we do a really good job of defending," Rucki said. "I think they're a good matchup for us, but we're a bad matchup for them. With their personnel, their style, they're a better matchup for Central Catholic, while we're a bad matchup for Central Catholic. "That's the way it is sometimes. Sometimes it's all about the different kinds of matchups." Findlay goes for a fifth straight win, and its 15th of the season, today when the Trojans travel to Tiffin Columbian. ST. FRANCIS (12-8, 5-8 TRAC) Syroka 4-9 2-2 11, Sanders 0-2 0-0 0, Heck 3-9 0-0 7, Ferguson 0-2 0-0 0, Coop 3-5 0-0 6, Dixon 1-2 0-0 2, Urban 0-2 0-0 0, Erd 1-2 0-0 3, Rogers 1-4 0-0 2, Kachmarik 1-2 1-2 4, Brown 0-3 2-4- 2, Bacon 0-0 0-0 0, Pollock 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 15-44 5-8—39. FINDLAY (14-6, 9-4 TRAC) Weihrauch 2-2 0-0 5, Bishop 6-10 3-4 15, Ernst 3-4 3-3 10, Montgomery 1-1 2-2 4, Cordonnier 7-7 0-0 18, Best 0-1 0-0 0, Barnes 3-4 1-2 10, Parker 3-5 1-1 8, Roob 0-0 0-0 0, Lentz 0-0 0-0 0, Yeager 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25-33 10-12—70. St. Francis 8 10 10 11—39 Findlay 14 24 18 14—703-POINT GOALS: St. Francis 4-16 (Syroka 1-3, Sanders 0-2, Heck 1-5, Erd 1-2, Rogers 0-1, Kachmarik 1-1, Ferguson 0-1); Findlay 10-15 (Parker 1-3, Weihrauch 1-1, Bishop 0-1, Barnes 3-4, Ernst 1-2, Codonnier 4-4). REBOUNDS: St. Francis 17 (Ferguson 3); Findlay 22 (Montgomery 5, Cordonnier 5, Barnes 3). TURNOVERS: St. Francis 10, Findlay 10. JUNIOR VARSITY: St. Francis, 62-35.