New Knoxville stays undefeated, advances to state final

March 13, 2008 10:33 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sixty-one years later, New Knoxville is back in a state championship game. Ryan VanderHorst scored 16 points to lead top-ranked New Knoxville past Haviland Wayne Trace 62-41 Thursday in a Division IV state semifinal at Ohio State's Value City Arena. The Rangers (26-0) advance to play third-ranked Worthington Christian (26-1) for the state title at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Warriors knocked off Bedford Chanel 66-58 in the earlier semifinal. Brad Piehl, a 6-foot-7 junior, had a sterling all-around game, totaling 13 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two blocked shots. He frequently would come up with a steal and then bring the ball up court on the break. Austin Arnett added 11 points. The only previous time a New Knoxville team made it to the state tournament was in 1947, when the Rangers beat Phillipsburg in the Class B semifinals before losing to Columbiana in the championship game. Aaron Hockenberry, an honorable mention all-stater, had 14 points for tiny Wayne Trace (21-5), which has just 34 students in its senior class. Alex LaBounty chipped in with 10 points. The Raiders were making their fourth and final appearance at the state tournament under their coach the last 33 years, Al Welch. He is retiring, leaving with a record of 540-211 — the 17th highest win total in Ohio boys basketball coaching history. Ahead 8-6 midway through the first period, the Rangers began to pull away. Austin Luck came off the bench and almost immediately hit a 3 from the left wing before Piehl stole a pass, dribbled up court and assisted on VanderHorst's layup. Tony Meyer then closed the period with a 3 from the left corner for a 16-6 lead. Wayne Trace got as close as five points in the second quarter at 19-14 on a bucket by Tevin Hale at the 4:17 mark, but the Raiders didn't score again. They turned the ball over on their next three possessions and ended up missing their final five shots while New Knoxville ran off the final six points for a 25-14 lead. The Rangers maintained that lead before putting the game out of reach late in the third quarter. On top 33-25, they ran off the quarter's final 13 points — five by Arnett and four apiece by Piehl and VanderHorst. That pushed the lead to 46-25, far too big of a hill to climb for a team averaging under 50 points a game and playing against the No. 1 team in the state. NEW KNOXVILLE (26-0) Arnett 5-6 1-4 11, Allen 1-4 3-4 5, Piehl 4-11 5-6 13, Meyer 3-5 0-0 7, VanderHorst 8-12 0-0 16, Dicke 1-2 0-1 2, Reineke 0-0 0-0 0, Horstman 0-1 0-0 0, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Lawler 0-0 0-0 0, Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Merges 0-0 0-0 0, Luck 2-6 2-2 8, Homan 0-0 0-0 0, Wolf 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 11-17 62. WAYNE TRACE (21-5) Linder 2-7 0-0 5, Treece 0-5 1-2 1, Jewell 1-3 1-2 3, Hockenberry 4-12 5-5 14, R.Davis 0-4 2-2 2, Hale 3-6 0-0 6, J.Davis 0-0 0-0 0, LaBounty 5-7 0-0 10, Sherry 0-0 0-0 0, Gordon 0-0 0-0 0, Baksa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-44 9-11 41. New Knoxville 16 9 21 16_62 Wayne Trace 6 8 11 16_41 3-point goals_New Knoxville 3-12 (Luck 2-6, Meyer 1-3, Arnett 0-1, Allen 0-1, Dicke 0-1), Wayne Trace 2-13 (Linder 1-2, Hockenberry 1-6, R.Davis 0-1, Treece 0-2, Hale 0-2). Fouled out_None. Rebounds_New Knoxville 30 (VanderHorst 11), Wayne Trace 25 (LaBounty 8). Assists_New Knoxville 13 (VanderHorst 3), Wayne Trace 7 (Hockenberry 3). Total fouls_New Knoxville 11, Wayne Trace 14. A_11,733.