Bulldogs, Rams to face off for city league basketball title

Scott's Shaquille Allen (4) dunks the ball against Bowsher during the City League boys semifinals Tuesday, at Start High School in Toledo, Ohio. THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH Enlarge | Photo Reprints

The City League championship matchup is set.

Rogers will face Scott in the CL final on Thursday night at Waite after both teams survived challenging CL semifinals.

Scott's Shaquille Allen pumped in 24 points and Dontonio Kynard added 21 to lead the Bulldogs to an 84-83 victory over Bowsher in the opening CL semifinal.

Rogers' Clemmye Owens poured in a game-high 27 points and Tony Kynard added 20 to pace the Rams past Start for a 73-66 victory in the second CL semifinal to set up a much-anticipated third meeting of the season between the Bulldogs and Rams.

"I think they are our new Libbey," Scott coach Chris Dames said referring to Rogers, which split the regular season series with Scott.

"That's our rival now."

RELATED ARTICLE:

• High school basketball roundup: Feb. 22

PHOTO GALLERIES: 

• Boys basketball: Scott vs. Bowsher

• Boys basketball: Rogers vs. Start

The Bulldogs, who led Bowsher by as many as 17 points, ended up narrowly getting by the Rebels, which rallied late to turn the final seconds of the first CL semifinal into a thriller.

Bowsher was actually in position to win the game during the final seconds but two shot attempts from close range clanged off the rim.

The Bulldogs escaped with a one-point win to secure a spot in the CL championship game.

"I don't know if they just got tired after not playing for a week," Dames said, attempting to explain how the Bulldogs let a sizeable lead over the Rebels slip away.

Nonetheless, the Bulldogs accomplished their mission by getting past the Rebels.

"It's just survive and advance at this time," Dames said. "We'll watch film and make some adjustments."

Rashad Lane and Delaquon Norwood pitched in 18 and 16 points, respectively, to give Scott four players to score in double figures against Bowsher.

"We're on the path that we've set right now," Dames said.

Mookie Mustafaa matched Allen for game-high honors by scoring 24 points to lead five Rebels in double figures.

Eric Hopkins scored 17 points, including three 3-pointers, for the Rebels. Nate Allen produced 14 points while Kharri Dailey added 13 and Jason Sandridge 11.

Mustafaa missed a contested shot in the paint off an inbounds pass underneath the Bowsher basket with 10 seconds left that could have put the Rebels ahead.

Dashan White came up with the loose ball off the miss and his short jump-shot from eight feet also rimmed out before Scott's Bryson Collins came up with the rebound and was fouled with 3.2 seconds left in the game.

Collins missed the pair of free throws and a last-second shot attempt by Dailey from 27-feet was also off the mark just as the game-ending buzzer sounded.

The Bulldogs carried a 41-32 lead into halftime against the Rebels and made it appear like Scott was well on its way to a much-anticipated matchup with Rogers.

However, the Rebels made it clear in the second half that advancing into the league title game wouldn't come easy.

Neither did the Rams find it an easy road into the finals.

Start led Rogers by as many as nine points in the first half before Owens banked in a 35-footer just as the halftime buzzer sounded to cut the Spartans lead to 37-33 at the break.

"That was a momentum booster," Rogers coach Earl Morris said of Owens' shot. "We needed that.

"We made some stops and did what we needed to do to get the win."

The Rams rode the momentum into the third quarter and regained the lead after opening the period with a 14-6 run.

The Spartans, led by Demond Crisp's team-high 19 points, kept it close until the Rams pulled away down the stretch.

Start's Dion Ivery scored 16 points while Robert Wietrzykowski finished with 14 points, including 10 in the first half.

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302, or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.