St. John’s Lutheran School’s girls basketball team recently placed third during the Ohio All-Lutheran tournament. Members of the squad are from left, front row, Anna Lynch, Mya Balderson, McKenna Fonner and Grace Gorton; back row, assistant coach Bob Boehm, Allie Boyd, Emma Hamilton, Sara Lynch, Avery Gallmeyer, Hannah Boehm and head coach Austin Clarridge. (Photo submitted)
Members of the St. John’s Lutheran School boys basketball team are from left, front row, Mac Rausch, Matthew Kelly, Connor Boyd, Lincoln Thrush, Jackson Burns, Biaggio Pagan and Blake Gorton; back row, assistant coach Todd Gorton, Logan Landry, Noah Fonner, Rylan Gabel, Leo Rausch, Nate Fisher and head coach Scott Thrush. (Photo submitted)
The St. John’s Lutheran School girls basketball team recently completed a stellar 2019-20 season.
The Lady Jaguars placed second during the COAL league tournament and third during the 41st annual All-Ohio Lutheran tourney.
The league event was held at Columbus Torah Academy.
St. John’s took on Genoa Christian Academy during the title contest.
It was the third time the teams played each other during the campaign and it resulted in St. John’s first setback of the season.
Genoa Christian Academy edged the Lady Jaguars, 26-22.
Anna Lynch led St. John’s with 11 points.
Grace Gorton, Kenna Fonner and Sarah Lynch each tallied three and Mya Balderson added two.
Balderson, Gorton and Lynch were named to play in the inaugural COAL All-Star game.
St. John’s hosted the preliminary West Division play-in game for the state tournament.
The Lady Jaguars rolled to a 40-7 victory over Immanuel Lutheran of Hamilton.
Gorton poured in 18 points, while Lynch added 10.
The second and final play-in game resulted in a 19-17 triumph for St. John’s.
McKenna Fonner toed the free throw line with 0.6 ticks on the timer.
She hit a pair of charity tosses to lift the Jags to the victory.
That triumph earned the Lady Jaguars the second seed for the West Division portion of the state tournament.
Fonner led St. John’s with eight points, followed by Balderson-six, Sarah Lynch and Hannah Boehm-each with two and Anna Lynch with one.
Balderson tallied 17 points as St. John’s beat third-seeded Royal Redeemer of North Royalton, 30-21, during first-round state tournament action.
Gorton scored seven.
Cuyahoga Falls, the East Division’s top seed, met the Lady Jags during the second round.
The game resulted in a 28-22 loss for St. John’s to the eventual state runner-up.
Anna Lynch led St. John’s with nine points.
The final game of the season saw the Lady Jaguars top the East Division’s second seed, Bethany Lutheran of Parma, 28-22.
Gorton tallied nine points, while Balderson added five during the game that determined third and fourth places.
Fonner and Anna Lynch both scored four, while Sara Lynch and Boehm added two apiece.
Gorton and Anna Lynch were named to the state’s all-tournament team as the Lady Jaguars finished the season with a 22-2 record.
St. John’s boys concluded the regular season with a 5-6 record and went 4-3 in post-season action.
They lost, 29-16, to Genoa Christian Academy in the COAL tourney.
Leo Rausch led the Jaguars with eight points. Jack Burns tallied four, while Blake Gorton and Mac Rausch each finished with two.
Rausch and Fonner represented St. John’s in the first COAL All-Star game.
The boys also hosted Immanuel Lutheran during the state tournament play-in game.
The Jaguars romped past the Hamilton, Ohio, squad by a 37-8 count.
Gorton led St. John’s with 11 points and Rausch added nine.
Rounding out the scoring were Lincoln Thrush-five, Jackson Burns-four and Connor Boyd, Mac Rausch and Fonner-two apiece.
The victory was the first for St. John’s boys over Immanuel Lutheran in several years.
St. John’s, which finished the season with a 9-9 mark, saw its season come to an end during the second-round play-in game.
The Jaguars traveled to Trinity Lutheran School in Toledo, where they fell to the St. Paul Crusaders of Napolean, 48-15.
Burns led St. John’s in that game with five points, followed by Mac Rausch-four and Boyd, Fonner and Leo Rausch-two each.