WILLARD — The way coach Anthony Langhurst sees it, Seneca East’s lack of postseason experience is a blessing in disguise.
Making their first district appearance since 1990, the second-seeded Tigers rallied for a 76-66 win over No. 3 Lucas in a Division IV district semifinal game at Willard High School on Tuesday.
“It kind of helps us a little bit. The kids don’t know what they don’t know,” Langhurst said. “It was evident right from the start that we were up for the challenge.”
The Cubs (19-6) led 21-14 after the first quarter and 25-19 after a steal and layup by Zach Diehl with 5:24 remaining in the second before the Tigers (20-5) came to life. Seneca East outscored Lucas 15-1 the rest of the period for a 34-26 halftime advantage.
“We’ve done it a lot this year. We’ve come out and played well and then we get a little tired and lose focus on defense,” Lucas coach Taylor Iceman said. “They had a big quarter. We probably played fairly even the rest of the way, but when you put yourself in a hole like that, you can’t come back from that at this juncture.”
The Cubs cut Seneca East’s lead to 40-34 midway through the third on a Gabe Porter layup, but again the Tigers responded. Seneca East went on a quick 7-0 run for a 47-34 lead with 2:18 to play in the third and took a 49-42 advantage to the fourth.
Lucas made it a two-possession game on a Logan Toms layup with 6:36 remaining, but the Tigers iced it with a 9-0 run highlighted by five points by senior forward Aidan Hines to make it 60-46 with 4:17 to play. Lucas could never get within striking distance as Seneca East make 14-of-16 free throws in the final 3:08 to win going away.
Blake Foos led Seneca East with 20 points. Luke Mason added 15, while Hines and Lucas Bordner scored 13 points apiece for the Tigers, who shared the Northern 10 Athletic Conference crown with Colonel Crawford, Carey and Mohawk.
“We’ve been balanced like that all year. If you look at the N10 (statistics) we don’t have one scorer in the top 10,” Langhurst said. “It’s one of those things where on any given night we try to find the guy who is going and the guys trust each other.
“It’s been a joy to see them make that extra pass to get a higher percentage shot. It’s been like that all year.”
Toms paced the Cubs with 24 points. Aidan Culler had 17, while Diehl and Porter each added 10.
The Cubs will lose a talented six-man senior class that includes Toms, the program’s career scoring leader,
“That’s always the tough part about it as this point, you’ve got to tell those guys goodbye,” Iceman said. “We’ve had a heck of a run. Only four teams get to cut down the nets at the end. You always hope to go out as late as can be.”