Ethan Linder awarded the basketball trophy and congratulated by Coach Jim Linder.
This season for the Wayne Trace Raiders has been a season of records. This game on February 17 brought more. After defeating Tinora 61-36, the Raiders have their fifth straight league title and their 28th overall, the most surpassing any other team in the Green Meadows Conference.
Ethan Linder surpassed a new milestone for the GMC and the county. He surpassed the 2000 career point mark in this game. He now is close to being in the top 25 scorers of Ohio Boys Basketball history. He currently is at 2011 after the game against Tinora.
The game started with the Raiders having an 18-2 record and Tinora is 3-17 for records and Ethan Linder had 12 points to go to achieve the 2000 point mark. This first period had Wayne Trace scoring left and right with players Brady Stabler, Eli Sinn and Ethan Linder all racking up points and Tinora scoring only hitting 4 points. The first finished 17-4.
The second period started with Linder within 4 points of the goal. The team was working together, grabbed a turnover, and all running back to home basket and passed to Linder, tossing the ball in with his right hand from the right side of the key and scored. Nearly the same thing happened again this time he was fouled and Ethan was sent to the line at 5:16 left on the clock. He easily sunk both shots to put him at the 2000 mark.
Ethan Linder’s shoots at the free-throw line, making his 2000th point
The fans celebrated and even the Rams were cheering for records of this nature. It’s difficult for a person to achieve 1000 points and 2000 is certainly a landmark achievement. Balloons, confetti and streamers are flying through the air when the basket went in. The senior cheerleaders stood behind with a banner recognizing Linder’s success while coach and father, Jim Linder presented Ethan with the ball trophy. Linder was then congratulated by his teammates, and Tinora’s coach Paul Wayne. Then he walked to his mother and gave a heart-felt hug and thanked her. The entire gym of people were celebrating his achievement.
Continuing on with the game, the boys scored 17 points to Tinora’s 10. Linder looked exhausted for the rest of the period. His teammates picked up the steam and continued. Points by Jake Kuhn were right on finishing up the half.
The boys came back from half time and Tinora’s Ryan Mohr did quite well. They outscored the home team by one when they hit 12. The 3rd period ended 45-26.
Now, the fourth stretch was back up the first two period’s standards when three point baskets became the norm for Sinn and Linder. Turnovers for Tinora were up to 24 and this helped the Raiders. Brady Stabler was 100% at the charity line, making 4 of 4. The game finished 61-36 and gave Wayne Trace the conference title, shared with Ayersville and Holgate.
Linder has 19 games in his career over 30 points (eight this year) and three games of 40 or more (two this year) points in his career.
Wayne Trace takes the GMC title for the fifth year in a row.
Wayne Trace hosts Ottoville in the regular season finale on Friday, February 24 before opening tournament play in the Division III sectional at Elida where they will tangle with either Parkway or Riverdale on March 3.
Score by the Quarter:
Wayne Trace: 17 17 11 16 = 61
Tinora: 4 10 12 10 = 36
Scorers of the Game:
Wayne Trace – B Stabler 13; E Sinn 10; J Kuhn 4; J Sinn 2; B Jerome 1; E Linder 23; J Kuhn 8
Tinora – T Giesige 4; C Hoellrich 2; B Bumb 6; R Mohr 15; M Reeves 4; L Rinkel 2; C Gilbert 3
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