Findlay doesn't Waite to get rolling in postseason opener

Findlay High's basketball team got to do something Friday night it hasn't gotten to do much this year Cruise. With a 20-2 record, No. 5 state ranking and seeded No. 1 in its district, Findlay was a heavy favorite against a 2-20 Toledo Waite team that had suffered those 20 losses by an average of 30 points a game. Even when a matchup is a mismatch, though, business has to be taken care of and the Trojans did that, scoring the first 33 points of the game, going up 43-6 with a 10-0 run late in the second quarter and cruising to a 71-21 victory in a Division I sectional final at the FHS Gymnasium. "This may be the first time in my career that we looked at a game and I was just, 'We're going to handle this team,'" said FHS coach Jim Rucki. "So we spent this week just working on ourselves. We tweaked a couple of little things, but focused on getting better and getting ready for the next game." That next game will Tuesday when Findlay (21-2) and Sylvania Northview (10-13) will clash for the third time this season in a Division I district semifinal at Toledo Central Catholic High School. Northview, the 12th-–seeded team in the Division I district tournament, beat tenth-seeded Toledo St. Francis 57-53 on Friday in another sectional final. Friday's game started a minute or two early and was over in a hurry. Ben Best, Brody Barnes, Sam Ernst and Hudson Yeager all hit 3-pointers as Findlay kept increasing the number – 7, then 14, then 21 and 24 – across from the zero on Waite's side of the scoreboard. Findlay scored half of its first-quarter points on second and third chances. Six-three senior guard Ben Best led the assault on the boards and grabbed nine of his game-high 10 rebounds in the first half. Four of his five rebounds in the first quarter were on the offensive end. "We talked about getting on the offensive glass," Rucki said. "We saw on film that other people had rebounded well against them. We felt we needed to be really aggressive, and Ben did a great job of that." The lead ballooned to 33-0 on Ryan Montgomery's second-quarter 3-pointer before Waite's Tyqwuan hit a high-arcing 3-pointer to finally get the Indians on the board with 5:10 left in the half. Waite's Delfina Moya followed with another 3, but Findlay answered that run with a 10-0 burst of its own. In a dominating first half, Findlay made 7-of-15 3-point attempts, 18-of-33 shots overall (54.5 percent), outrebounded Waite 24-3 and forced 11 turnovers while committing just three. If Rucki had concerns the Trojans might get caught overlooking the Indians, those thoughts were quickly dispelled. "We didn't want to take a step back, even with a win," Rucki said. "We wanted to make sure this game didn't hurt us for the next game, just by being sloppy and doing things that you have to come back and address later. "I think our guys did a good job. They've handled everything that's come at them this year, all the different types of situations. They got out, they got after it, they moved the ball well … They did the things we need to do to keep improving." With a big lead, a running clock and subs playing most of the final 12 minutes, it was a deep and balanced scoring output by the Trojans. Montgomery and Will Cordonnier (8 rebounds) scored 11 points, Ernst had eight, Barnes and Javonte Hill both had six and Best, Yeager, Luke Weihrauch, Beck Garmong and Blade Wendt five each. Goetz led Waite with eight points and Moya had seven. "To a lot of these young guys, this was the kind of game where you throw them in the fire to get their feet wet and learn," said Waite coach Darren Owens. "We have some great young kids. They didn't quit. They never gave up. And a lot of them are coming back, so I'm looking for good things next season." TOLEDO WAITE (2-21) Parish 0-3 0-0 0, Rogers 0-0 0-0 0, Moya 3-10 0-0 7, McGowan 0-2 0-0 0, Hyde 2-2 0-0 4, Villagomez 0-2 0-0 0, Hester 0-5 0-0 0, Grover 1-3 0-1 2, Jordan 0-0 0-0 0, Gardner 0-0 0-0 0, Goetz 3-4 0-0 8, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Green 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 9-34 0-0—21. FINDLAY (21-2) Weihrauch 2-7 1-2 5, Best 2-5 0-0 5, Ernst 3-7 0-0 8, Hill 3-5 0-0 6, Cordonnier 5-9 0-0 11, Barnes 2-3 0-0 6, Montgomery 5-7 0-0 11, Yeager 1-1 2-2 5, Garmong 2-3 0-0 5, Stillings 1-2 0-1 2, Rood 1-2 0-0 2, Wendt 2-3 0-0 5, Drew 0-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29-57 3-5—71. Waite 0 &emsp;&emsp;8 &emsp;&emsp;6 &emsp;&emsp;7—21 Findlay 26 &emsp;&emsp;20 &emsp;&emsp;11 &emsp;&emsp;14—71 3-POINT GOALS: Toledo Waite 3-14 (Villagomez 0-3, Hester 0-2, Parish 0-2, Moya 1-3, Grover 0-1, Goetz 2-3, Jones 0-1); Findlay 10-26 (Garmong 1-2, Wendt 1-2, Rood 0-1, Stillins 0-1, Weihrauch 0-1, Best 1-2, Barnes 2-3, Ernst 2-4, Hill 0-1, Yeager 1-1, Montgomery 1-3, Cordonnier 1-4, Drew 0-1). REBOUNDS: Toledo Waite 14 (Moya 3); Findlay 38 (Best 10, Cordonnier 8). TURNOVERS: Perrysburg 16; Findlay 5.