On Tuesday Continental welcomed Lima Central Catholic on the OHSAA Division IV Boys Basketball Tournament. The Thunderbirds moved down a class as they were 2 under the limit using the adjusted numbers. Continental was 71 students away from Division III. The T-birds had some recent tournament success in Division III being State Champions in 2016, 2014, and 2010. The Tbirds entered the Van Wert Sectional semifinals with a #6 seed while the Pirates were the #12 seed.
In this case seeding was appropriate as the T-birds opened the game by scoring 15 of the first 18 points. The Pirates would rally at the end of the first quarter to make it a 10 point game. T-birds 17, Pirates 7 after 1. It was all T-birds in the second as the Pirates would manage to put only 2 points on the board. Thunderbirds 32 Pirates 9 at half. The Pirates offense would pick up a bit in the third quarter as they would put 10 points on the board but the T-birds would end up extending their lead. T-birds 47, Pirates 19 after 3. A 10 point LCC advantage in the fourth made it a 65-27 final.
Sophomore Reed Warnement led the Pirates with 13 points while Freshman Gavin Huff had 6. Sophomore Mitchell Coleman put in 5, Freshman Andrew Hoeffel 2, and Junior Wyatt Stauffer 1. Warnement hit 3 three-pointers while Coleman made 1.
Continental falls to 3-20. Lima Central Catholic improves to 12-11 and faced #5 seed Delphos St Johns on Friday. The Blue Jays advanced to the Elida District Semifinals with a 30-29 win over the T-birds.
A shoutout goes to the seniors who played or cheered in their final game donning the Pirates logo. Jaden Warner, Zach Moran, and Taron Butler were senior team members while Brooke Bradford, Jamie Etter, Brooke Davis, Kaytlin Bibler, Breanne Eickholt, and Sierra Prowant were senior Cheerleaders. Thanks for the entertaining season and great luck on all you future endeavors.
–Mike Jones, Sportswriter
