MT. GILEAD, Ohio — The Bowling Green Christian boys basketball team will play Marion Christian in an Independent Christian Schools of Ohio state semifinal Saturday for the right to advance to the state championship.
In the quarterfinals Thursday, Gospel Haven defeated Kingsway Christian, 67-49, and Northwest Ohio Christian defeated Gilead Christian, 41-36. Gospel Haven will play Northwest Ohio (Napoleon) in Saturda’s first semifinal
Marion defeated Castine Christian, 59-36 and wll play BGCA in the second semifinal game on Saturday night. Castine, 55-48 winners over Warsaw last Saturday (Feb. 17), was the third seed in the West and Marion was the second seed in the East.
Castine led Marion 17-15 after one quarter. Marion led at the half, 26-25. Marion built a 32-27 lead in the third before CC rallied to take a 33-32 lead.
Marion tied the game at 4:09 at 33-33 and went ahead for good at 35-33 with 3:23 left in the 3rd. Marion took a 42-33 lead into the fourth. After trailing 33-32, Marion outscored CC, 27-3, to turn a close game into a rout.
The BG Christian squad had received word during its practice Wednesday afternoon from league director Bill Brosher that the team had advanced directly to the ICSO state tournament “final four” via a forfeit victory.
Anchor Christian Academy, the Lions’ scheduled opponent, did not have enough players to field a team. The Arrows, the East’s fourth-seeded club, received a bye into the second round of the tournament and defeated Senedot this past Saturday, 56-49, to advance to the quarterfinals.
With their forfeit win, the Lions move to 21-3 on the season. BGCA’s semifinal game is set for Saturday (Feb. 24) at 5:45 p.m. following the upper-bracket semi slated for a 4:30 tipoff. All tournament games are played at the Gilead Friends Gymnasium in Mt. Gilead.
