ROSSFORD — Rossford 6-foot-8 junior Derek Vorst pieced together a double-double 24 points, 10 rebounds
and had two steals Monday night.
However, it was not enough during the final game of the Second Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Showcase at
Rossford’s George G. Wolfe Fieldhouse.
St. John’s junior C.J. Hornbeak hit two free throws after he was fouled driving to the basket with 5.3
seconds remaining to propel the Titans to a 53-52 victory over Rossford.
Hornbeak led St. John’s with 23 points, making 8-of-17 field goals, including 2-of-7 from three-point
territory, and hitting on 5-of-6 free throws, but none were bigger than his last two.
“He got fouled, and he’s been up and down at the free throw line,” St. John’s coach Mike Schoen said.
“For him to step up and knock those down, he’s a big-time player. He tends to make big plays in big
games.”
Hornbeak’s game-winning free throws came seconds after Rossford junior Brenden Revels scored on an
offensive putback after rebounding a missed baseline three-point shot by senior teammate Ben Morrison.
Revels not only scored, but he was fouled, and his old-fashioned three-point play gave the Bulldogs the
lead, 52-51, with 14.1 seconds remaining.
Revels finished with 18 points and six rebounds, but like Vorst’s effort, it was not enough to guarantee
a win.
St. John’s improved to 8-4 on the season while Rossford falls to 9-4, but Rossford coach Brian Vorst
liked the fight he saw in his team.
“We want to play teams that are really good,” coach Vorst said. “That is why we schedule these guys.
“That’s why we play a (team like) Perrysburg, we want to play a Dayton Dunbar, to prepare us to hopefully
be in a position to beat a team like Eastwood, (or) to beat Elmwood,” coach Vorst continued.
St. John’s led 14-7 after one quarter and 18-9 early in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs fought back
to close the gap to three, 31-28, at halftime.
Rossford never led in the second half until Revel’s scored in the final minute, but they never trailed by
more than eight, usually staying within one or two possessions.
“These losses, we don’t like them, but they test our character. I thought we showed pretty good character
today,” coach Vorst said.
“They had us down nine, we made a couple runs on them and we were able to bounce back, and guys made
plays. It just came down to one play here at the end.”
For Rossford, Ben Morrison finished with six points and had two assists, junior Garrette Murphree scored
three points with two steals, and junior Jake Morrison had one point, nine rebounds and two assists.
Thanks to the efforts of Derek Vorst and Jake Morrison, the Bulldogs outrebounded the Titans, 31-23, but
had 16 turnovers to St. John’s nine.
The Titans also had nine points off turnovers to Rossford’s two, and St. John’s bench outscored
Rossford’s bench, 9-0.
The Bulldogs shot 45% (19-for-42) from the floor, including 3-for-15 (20%) from beyond the arc and were
11-for-13 (85%) from the free throw line.
The Titans shot 41% (20-for-49) from the field, including 6-for-19 (32%) from three-point territory, and
were 7-for-15 (50%) from the line.
For St. John’s, junior Justyn Toler had 13 points, five rebounds and three steals, senior Kennedy Vaughn
had five points and three assists, and senior Trey Lake scored four points.
Junior Marquee Frazier and sophomore Joseph Taylor scored three points each and senior Carter Binkowski
added two points for the Titans.
Rossford’s MLK Showcase put on display seven varsity games, drawing 14 teams from Michigan and northern
Ohio, plus there were an additional six junior varsity games in the auxiliary gymnasium.
“It’s awesome. This is the second year in a row we are here,” Schoen said. “I can’t imagine we wouldn’t
be here in the future. I have a ton of respect for coach Vorst and what he does.
“We have a great relationship, and we appreciate being a part of it. And we seem to win when we come, so
hopefully we’ll see if we can keep on doing that,” Schoen continued.
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