Miller City’s Owen Tobe takes the ball to the basket Thursday night in Miller City as Toledo Christian’s Karter Koester defends.
Nate Reynolds | The Lima News
MILLER CITY — In the nightcap of the Miller City/Toledo Christian boys-girls doubleheader, the hosts were trying to make it two for two on the evening. The Eagles had other things in mind.
Toledo Christian used balanced scoring, getting four players in double figures led by Karter Koester’s 20 points, and Conye Gaston added 18 to give the Eagles a 69-59 victory.
Brandon Barlage led Miller City (6-2) with 20 points; Andon Ruhe contributed 13 in the effort.
The contest stayed tight most of the way with teams knotted at 18- 18 after the first quarter, but a Eagles spurt in the second eight minutes gave the Lucas County foe a 34-30 advantage at the break.
Miller City kept pace for the most part in the third stanza, despite the Eagles (5-1) shooting an impressive 5 of 5 from the line. Toledo Christian took a 53-46 lead into the final quarter.
The Wildcats made a run of it in the final eight minutes; Ethan Barlage brought the Wildcats within two at 56-54 with a shot from the paint with 6:04 left to go. However, the Eagles tied it on the next trip down court; the game would teeter back and forth on the next few possessions.
However, Toledo Christian pulled away behind late buckets from Kalon Butler (14 points) and Xandry Hesson (11 points) hitting clutch shots in the final minutes to ice the game away.
Both teams came out hot in the first stanza, combining for 14 of 21 shooting. The Eagles ended the evening shooting 12 of 15 from the line. Miller City was just as impressive with a 9 of 10 showing from the charity stripe.
Dave Boninsegna wrote this for LimaScores.com.
