The City League boys basketball title will feature a Battle of the Spartans.
The Spartans of defending champion Lima Senior (17-2) will take on the Start Spartans (11-7) at the Waite Field House Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Both teams advanced through Monday night's CL playoff semifinals at Waite, with top-seeded Lima taking an easy 72-31 victory over No. 4 seed Scott (9-13), and No. 2 seed Start winning 59-43 over No. 3 seed Rogers (14-5).
In the first semifinal, Lima Senior bombed in 10 of its 13 total 3-pointers in the opening half while building a 50-23 lead, then cruised to the win with all but three minutes of the second half played with a running clock.
Je'Kel Cotton topped Lima with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Amari Addy had 18 points for the Spartans, who went 13 of 30 from beyond the arc, and outrebounded the Bulldogs 43-29.
Scott got seven points apiece from Trametreous Foster and Tye'Ron Hines. The Bulldogs were an ice-cold 12 of 51 (24 percent) from the field in the game.
“I liked that we were able to sit down in the half court [on defense] and didn't have to press,” Lima coach Quincey Simpson said of the biggest positive taken from the one-sided win. “We've got three games in three days, and we've got to play half-court defense. We did a good job of that.”
“Start is well coached, and Wednesday will be a tough game.”
Simpson's Spartans will now face a Start team they defeated easily 82-52 in league play back on Jan. 9 at Start.
First-year Start coach B.J. Raymond's Spartans will get a chance at a better showing against highly-regarded Lima after using a big second half to eliminate Rogers.
Connor Miekle led Start with 13 points, J'kiah Jefferson had 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and J'siah Jefferson added nine points for the Spartans.
The Rams were led by 13 points from freshman guard O.J. Waller, and got 12 points and 10 rebounds from senior Ki'Jyere McAlister.
Start seemed in control for much of the first half, leading 21-13 after a 3-pointer from Aiven Porter 2:15 before halftime.
But, Rogers turned up the defensive pressure, and closed the half on a 12-2 run to take a 25-23 lead to halftime.
“We weren't in the right press-breaker [late] in the first half, and instead of changing it then, we did it in the second half,” Raymond said of his team's poor first-half finish. “I didn't want [Rogers] to adjust to it at halftime.
“I didn't expect them to go on an 8-0 run like they did, but our team got a little rattled at the end of the half. We made our adjustments, and then we stuck with our game plan. We went back to what we were doing.”
After the break, Start yielded a put-back basket to McAlister to fall behind 27-23, then completely took over the game's momentum. The Spartans closed the third quarter on a 19-7 run, then extended their lead to 57-38 with what became a game-breaking 34-11 overall surge.
“We knew they needed to speed us up to get back in the game,” Raymond said. “Once we were able to play our way, and valued every possession that we had, we knew we could come away with a win.
“Once we didn't turn the ball over, which has been an Achilles heel for us all season, we played together as a team. That was Spartan basketball.”
Start was 24 of 52 (46 percent) from the field, and outrebounded the Rams 34-25. Rogers meanwhile shot just 30 percent (14-46) from the field.
“They really picked it up on the glass and got second-chance opportunities,” Rogers coach Rodney Martin said of Start's second-half response, “and they limited us to one shot. You've got to make shots in games like this, and we didn't make shots.”
Lima Senior has been a nemesis to Start in recent years, winning 64-63 in CL play last year, and twice in Division I regional semifinals — 50-48 in 2020, and 51-48 in 2019. This year's 30-point Lima win was the lone blowout in these head-to-head meetings.
“In my opinion, Lima didn't play [the real] 'us' the first time,” Raymond said. “We turned it over about 26 times, we didn't move the ball, and we played iso-basketball.
“We're excited to come out [Wednesday] and try to play our basketball, and see what it produces. We have no stress about the game. We just want them to play against 'us.' We know they're a great team. We just want to play as good as we can.”
First Published February 11, 2025, 3:13 a.m.
