CCN Staff report
BOWLING GREEN — The Mohawk Warriors blazed new basketball trails by making it to the regional tournament for the first time in school history.
However, the trail came to an end Tuesday evening when Pandora-Gilboa blew open a 17-14 halftime lead en route to a 50-31 victory in the semifinal of the Division IV regional at Stroh Center on the campus of Bowling Green State University.
Pandora-Gilboa (26-1) will face Convoy Crestview (23-3), a 61-45 winner over Maumee Valley Country Day in the nightcap, on Friday at 7 p.m. back at the Stroh Center.
Mohawk (19-7) led by three points midway through the first period and the game was tied twice. The Warriors led for just two minutes total and the game was tied for less than four minutes.
For other 26 minutes plus, the Rockets had the lead. Mohawk trailed by just three at intermission, but Pandora-Gilboa used a 16-9 advantage in the third quarter to move its lead to double digits.
Riley Larcom led the Rockets with 14 points and Cooper McCullough added 10. Eli Phillips had seven boards while Drew Johnson had nine points, seven boards and six blocked shots.
Zach Hayman led the Warriors with 13 points and Kaiden Hammer finished with six. Keith Jenkins grabbed five boards. Mohawk was just 11 of 39 shooting, including two of 10 from 3-point range.
Mohawk 7 7 9 8 — 31
Pandora-Gilboa 10 7 16 17 — 50
Stats
Mohawk (19-7): Shots 11-39; 3-pt shots 2-10 (Kaiden Hammer, Austin Tusing); Free throws 7-11; Rebounds 22 (Keith Jenkins 5); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Keith Jenkins 2 1 5, Kaiden Hammer 2 1 6, Zach Hayman 4 5 13, Austin Tusing 2 0 5, Cam Shellhouse 1 0 2.
Pandora-Gilboa (26-1): Shots 18-36; 3-pt shots 1-10 (Riley Larcom); Free throws 13-16; Rebounds 29 (Drew Johnson 7, Eli Phillips 7); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Jared Breese 3 1 7, Cooper McCullough 2 6 10, Drew Johnson 3 3 9, Riley Larcom 6 1 14, Eli Phillips 2 1 5, Ryan Lee 1 1 3, Cole Schwab 1 0 2.