By: Joe Shouse, Sportswriter
PAULDING – It was a game totally dominated by the Wayne Trace Raiders. Like they say – on any given night anything can happen during tournament time – and no one expected what happened when the Raiders met up with Ottoville last Friday at Paulding High school. The fourth seed Raiders destroyed the Big Green in convincing fashion 74-44. Ottoville entered tournament action as the third seeded team. The Raiders played earlier in the week and got past Miller City to set up the much anticipated rematch.
The Raiders and Ottoville played just seven nights earlier at Wayne Trace to complete the regular season. Wayne Trace won that contest 62-4, but on Friday, although the results would be the same, the manner in which the Raiders picked apart the Big Green is almost impossible to describe.
Consider the main highlights: Nate Gerber finished with 35 points, hitting 8-10 from behind the arc, 3-4 from two-point area and a perfect 5-5 at the foul line. As a team the Raiders connected on 17-30 on two-pointers for 57 percent and 10-19 behind the arc for a 53 percent clip. The Raiders won the rebound battle 32-20 with Ottoville not getting an offensive board. Reid Miller, held to just four points was the floor general, handing out eight assists.
Wayne Trace led from wire-to-wire, scoring 23 points in the opening quarter to lead 23-9. In the opening frame Gerber collected three 3-pointers to propel the Raider offense into high gear. In the second quarter six different Raiders scored including Miller, Linder, Gerber, Trae Sinn, Jace Vining and Alex Reinhart. Midway through the period Vining dialed in from long distance to put the Raiders on top 30-17 followed by a 9-2 run by the red, white, and blue. In the final thirty seconds prior to half time Reid Miller connected on a couple of free throws to push the Raider lead to 20 at 41-21.
The Raiders scored 23 points in the first quarter and backed it up with 18 in the second period but the third frame would be their best offensive output of the night – scoring 29 points. Gerber connected on four “long balls” in the third with Coach Jim Linder taking his star shooter out late in the third quarter. The Raiders led after three quarters of play 70-37,
Jace Vining finished with 10 points including two buckets behind the arc and 2-2 from the foul line along with six rebounds. Josiah Linder added nine points hitting all four of his field goals. Trae Sinn chipped in six along with team mate Alex Reinhart. Rounding out the Raiders scoring with two points a piece was Evan Mohr and Trevor Speice.
Others seeing action on sectional night was Cale Crosby, Mox Price, Caleb Yenser and Nate Crosby.
The Raiders improve to 19-5 and will advance to the district tournament at Elida where they will play second seed Kalida (18-5) in the 8:00 p.m. game on Tuesday night. In the opening game the top seed Crestview nights will battle fifth seed Delphos St. Johns. The two winners will return to the Elida Fieldhouse on Friday to determine the district champion. Tip -ff is at 7:00 p.m.
