MARION — Ridgedale hasn't won a boys basketball league championship since 2006-07, but the members on the current roster have championship experience in the Northwest Central Conference.
"A memory popped up on my Facebook (page) the other day of these guys winning the eighth grade championship. They beat Waynesfield that year. I texted the coaches and said, ‘How it started and — dot dot dot — how’s it going to finish?'"
The Rockets put themselves in a position to win the NWCC coming up on Friday, Feb. 20, at Waynesfield-Goshen after knocking off Elgin 58-41 Monday, Feb. 16, on the road.
Ridgedale (13-8) is in a first-place tie with Upper Scioto Valley (12-8) as both are 7-1 in the league standings with one game to play. While the Rockets will make the long road trip to W-G, USV will host Hardin Northern at the same time. W-G is 10-9 overall and 5-3 in the NWCC, while HN is 7-14, 4-4, so both teams are capable of playing the spoiler.
"It’s reminding the kids that they’ve done this before,. You can do it again," Mathey said. "It’s not going to be easy on the road, but we’re getting a little bit better on the road. We played better tonight on the road. I think the kids are up to the challenge."
How did Ridgedale put itself in this position?
There was a time when the Rockets started the season with three straight losses and were mired with a 2-4 record in mid-December. The coach felt his team's 57-38 win at home in a non-league game with Elgin on Dec. 19 was a springboard into the rest of the season.
"We’ve been playing well, and we put ourselves in a position to go have a shot at a league title, and that was the goal from the beginning," Mathey said.
Against the Comets on Monday night, a 10-1 spurt in the first three minutes of the second quarter gave Ridgedale some separation at 23-13. The Rockets continued stretching it out the rest of the period, taking a 40-20 lead into halftime. Elgin never threatened again.
All eight players in Ridgedale's varsity rotation scored as Ayden Salyer knocked down four 3-pointers to end with 17 points. Billy Wren backed him with 10 points. The team made 11 from the arc.
"We’ve got to continue what we’ve been doing," Mathey said. "It’s that point of the year where kids don’t want to practice, so we’ve shortened things but still continue to work on things. We’ve got to keep prepping and get ready for Waynesfield."
What's next for Elgin?
Elgin ended its regular season at 3-19 overall and 1-8 in the NWCC. The Comets are seeded No. 13 in Division VI's Central District and will go to No. 1 Grandview Heights Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. for a sectional tournament game.
"We’re going to cherish every moment we have together because who knows how many days we have left," Elgin coach Layne McElroy said. "Younger guys continue to get opportunities to get better. Older guys get a few more days to hang out with their buddies and spend some quality time. We’ll cherish all the time we have left."
Against Ridgedale, the Comets led 11-6 midway through the first quarter and was still up 13-12 by the end of the period. Elgin was outscored 28-7 in the second quarter as turnovers turned into easy basketball for the Rockets. That proved to be the difference as Elgin outscored Ridgedale 21-18 in the second half.
Gabe Williams scored 14 points and Peyton Zempter added 13 points to lead the Comets.
"It was the second quarter, and we’ve been fighting that all year," McElroy said. "We’ll play pretty well for longer stretches, but we have a three- or four-minute stretch where we turn it over a bunch and give up some easy buckets and it gets away from us."
419-610-0998
X @McMotorsport
Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Ridgedale handles Elgin, up next is the NWCC finale at Waynesfield