Wesleyan Christian no match for Lomega

Lomega picked up an easy win and maybe a little extra help Thursday in its quest to reach the Class B state tournament.

First and foremost, the Raiders advanced to the regional championship with a 60-31 manhandling of Wesleyan Christian School in their semifinal at Mulhall-Orlando.

The victory also secured the Raiders’ spot in this week’s area tournament.

Whether Lomega is playing in the area championship or is in the consolation bracket will be determined Saturday when it takes on New Lima at 8 p.m. at Cashion High School.

New Lima (16-12) upset No. 8 Hammon 63-62 in their regional semifinal.

Lomega, ranked 13th, wasn’t prone to the upset bug and made sure of it early.

The Raiders got two early 3-pointers from Blake Snowden and five points from Noah Snowden in getting out to an 18-3 lead.

After upping the advantage to 21 points by halftime, Lomega answered the third-quarter bell with a 16-5 run.

“I thought we played pretty well overall,” coach Justin Edsall said after his team improved to 19-8 with its fourth straight win.

“We frustrated them with our defensive pressure.”

Wesleyan Christian accounted for just three combined field goals in the first and third quarters.

Blake Snowden ended his night with five 3-pointers to account for all 15 of his points.

Riley Lumpkin also scored 15, 11 of which came in the second and third quarters.

Blake Snowden finished with 13 while Tate Ott chipped in three treys for nine points.

No. 1 Lomega cruises past WC

The myriad of scoring options for No. 1 Lomega was beyond more than Wesleyan Christian School could handle.

The Lady Raiders trounced yet another foe as they advanced to the regional championship with an 89-22 win in Thursday’s semifinal.

Lomega (25-2) plays No. 18 Hammon at 6:30 p.m. at Cashion in Saturday’s regional title tilt.

Wesleyan Christian’s upset hopes were quashed early as Lomega put 32 points on the scoreboard in the first quarter. That was enough for a 28-point lead.

It was a 45-point advantage by halftime.

Four different Lady Raiders had more points individually than did Wesleyan Christian at the break.

All four of them finished in double figures for the game.

Darcy Roberts led all scorers with 15 points.

Hensley Eaton, Emma Duffy and Adysen Wilson scored 13 apiece.

Sydni Walker chipped in nine points while Hallie Barton and Reagan Ramer scored eight apiece.

Saturday’s regional title game will be the second matchup with Hammon for Lomega this season.

The Lady Raiders won 61-46 on Jan. 10 in the semifinals of Hammon’s tournament.

Since the new year, Lomega’s offense has been held to the 60s just one other time, a 61-28 win against Drummond on Feb. 7.