Owen Russell
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John Bruce

Logan Elm digs out of late hole, ousts McClain to punch Convo tickets

The Braves will now meet with Unioto in a district semifinal.

John Bruce, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

CIRCLEVILLE — Despite scoring the first 13 points of the game, Logan Elm still found themselves trailing the McClain Tigers early in the fourth quarter on Monday night.

But a scoring barrage from Kelton Bennington, Ethon Manson and Owen Russell helped the Braves stave off elimination and advance to Sunday’s Division IV district semifinal at Ohio University’s Convocation Center with a 51-40 win over McClain.

Bennington scored 11 of his 13 points in a three-minute span in the fourth, including on three triples to help LE retake the lead.

“I didn’t shoot it real well in the first half,” Bennington said of his big fourth quarter. “But I had the confidence that I could put a couple down in the second half and I was able to.”

Logan Elm’s Kelton Bennington shoots during a game earlier this season.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA

Bennington wasn’t the only one to step up as Manson scored six of his 10 points off the bench in the final quarter, including a big three-point play with 3:55 to play.

“We all feed off of each other’s energy,” Manson said of his play late. “Any time we get the opportunity to bring some energy, we do. It was a really good atmosphere and really fun to play in.”

The crowd that was electric all night long would soon be brought to a crescendo following Manson’s three-point play. Bennington then posted a driving layup to force a timeout from McClain and give Logan Elm a comfortable 40-31 lead with 3:48 remaining. 

“That was a great atmosphere tonight,” Logan Elm coach Nate Dropsey said. “Our kids feed off that type of energy, especially when we can string together some stops on the defensive end. That really gets the team and the crowd going as well.”

To McClain’s credit, they would not quit, getting baskets from Lucas Banks and Elijah Storer.

But it would be the combination of Bennington, Manson and Russell who put the game on ice following the shortened run. 

Bennington connected on his third triple of the quarter, which was answered with an old-fashioned three-point play from McClain’s Jordan Bell. 

However, Manson was fouled and headed to the stripe where he knocked down the first freebie before missing the second. Undeterred, the junior forward chased down his miss before finding Russell, who was able to step into his shot from the outside for his fourth 3 of the game and provide the final nail in the coffin. 

“My guys found me when I was open and I was able to knock them down to give us plenty of momentum,” Russell said. “And late, Ethon got a big offensive rebound and found me, like he’s done many times, and I knocked it down.”

Russell and Brady Neff each buried a pair of free throws at the line in the final minute to provide the final margin, but it was a game that had massive ebbs and flows throughout its runtime. 

The Braves (13-10) jumped out to a 13-0 lead behind the aforementioned Russell triples before Storer broke the ice for the Tigers. 

Eventually, McClain (6-16) finished the quarter on a 4-0 run behind Bell and Hudson Lovett, providing a sliver of momentum after a quarter in which Logan Elm dominated. 

Connor Chandler opened the scoring in the second with a triple for the Tigers before Manson scored consecutive baskets for the Braves. McClain picked up their defensive effort over the following minutes, keeping the purple and gold within striking distance to allow Lovett to cut the lead to 23-16 at halftime. 

The third quarter turned into a defensive battle, allowing the Tigers to claw their way back into the game, eventually cutting the deficit to 27-25 after a pair of free throws from Lovett with only six seconds to play. 

The Tigers forced four turnovers in the third with only baskets from Zane Seimer and Neff to provide the offense for the Braves in the quarter.

“When you have a kid like Brady, you know what you are going to get every single day,” Dropsey said. “He’s very consistent and he does a great job of finding the person who is starting to get going and getting them the ball. I think that is hard to do. He’s a three-year starter and he has played in some big games. He knows what it takes to get to the Convo.”

McClain opened the final quarter with possession and found Chandler on the outside where the sophomore drained his triple to give the Tigers their first lead of the night with 7:40 to play. 

It would also be their only lead of the game. 

After each team had an empty possession, Bennington connected on consecutive shots from downtown before Lovett responded with a 3 of his own with 4:53 to play. 

Manson’s putback on the following possession started the Braves’ 7-0 run and pushed the lead to 40-31, virtually putting the game away. 

Lovett led the Tigers with 13 points in his first game back after missing the previous five contests. Banks and Chandler each added 8 points with a pair of triples each, while Storer grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds. 

Russell, one of four Braves in double figures, paced Logan Elm with 14 points while Bennington followed with 13 of his own. Manson and Neff each added 10 points to help move the Braves back to the Convo.

While McClain’s season comes to an end, Logan Elm will return to action at 5:30 p.m., Sunday against Unioto — the Southeast District’s No. 2 seed.

“We take it one game at a time. Our first goal was to get down to The Convo,” Dropsey said. “I have a great staff and we are going to put a ton of time into film and prepare these guys the best we can. Unioto is playing exceptionally well right now and that is something that we have to prepare for over the next several days. We’ll come out and give them our best shot.”

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