By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
Behind a suffocating defense and the play of Manny Johnson, the visiting and lower seeded Toledo Central Catholic boys basketball team defeated Bowling Green, 77-49, in a Division II sectional championship on Friday.
Johnson poured in a game-high 26 points while Central Catholic forced 20 turnovers, which led to a 28-3 advantage in points the other way.
“Manny Johnson did a good job of getting his hands on a lot of basketballs,” Bowling Green coach Mason Roth said. “We had no answer for him tonight. He was getting in the lane, (being) active defensively. They do a good job with that.”
Outside of Johnson, Draden Wardop added 16 points while Isaiah Mack-Russell chipped in 15 for Central Catholic (10-14), who now advance to face top-seeded Wauseon in next week’s district semifinal. Jacob Amspoker (16) and Ahmir Ruffin (15) combined for 31 points to lead the Bobcats.
“They scouted us (well),” Roth said. “They knew Ahmir and Jake were going do a lot of our creating on offense, and they did a great job staying out on our other guys and making them make plays and give them credit for that.”
Early on, despite five turnovers, Bowling Green (10-13) maintained control as they got a pair of big three-pointers from Ja’ceous Shannon over the final three minutes, including on with 38 seconds left, to take a 12-11 lead through one quarter.
Things started to unravel, though, in the second quarter as Johnson and Wardop combined for 16 points as Central Catholic forced five more turnovers, which led to seven points the other way. In addition to that, their defensive presence also smothered Bowling Green, forcing them into a 3-for-11 performance from the field, including just 1-of-7 from long distance.
“Their defensive pressure in the half court really just gave us a of problems,” Roth said. “I started watching film more and more and that was a big concern. They’re long. They’re athletic. And they get their hands on a lot of basketballs.”
Meanwhile, Central Catholic’s offense scored the first seven and 13 of the first 16 points in the quarter, finishing 9-of-11 from the field over the final six minutes of the half as they outscored the Bobcats 24-8.
Bowling Green made two of four from the field over the final two and a half minutes, but Wardop buried his team’s second 3-pointer over the final minute with just seconds left for a 35-20 lead.
“Early in the game, I thought we were doing okay for the most part, but as the game went on, it really just wore on us, and they got a lot of transition baskets off of that,” Roth said.
Bowling Green responded well in the third quarter, turning it over just twice while making three of five attempts from long distance, but it failed to put a dent in the deficit. Amspoker and Ruffin combined for 11 of the 13 points for the Bobcats, but Central Catholic took a 50-33 lead.
The two teams then engaged in an emotional final quarter that featured a pair of technical fouls, combining for 43 points on 13-of-21 shooting as the Fighting Irish forced eight turnovers en route to a 13-0 advantage in points the other way. Johnson and Cayden Kynard scored seven points apiece.
“I thought we fought,” Roth said. “We had a couple of good looks that went in and out, and it doesn’t necessarily change the result of the game, but it changes how the complexion of the game looks. Some nights they go in, some nights they don’t.”
Bowling Green now prepares for an offseason that will feature the departure of 10 seniors.
“Obviously, we wish we won a few more games here and there, but we’ll really miss this group. We’ve spent a lot of time with these guys. They’ve been a very important part of kind of the change of our program. We’ll miss those guys. They were a great group.”
