Cubs roll into final of district

On a night where Bell City senior Dominitrix Johnson passed the 2,000-point plateau for his career, it was Bell City's supporting cast which carried the scoring load in a 73-39 win over Marquand on Tuesday night in the Class 1 District 2 tournament semifinals at Zalma High School.

Top-seeded Bell City (23-5) will play No. 2 Delta (19-9) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in the district finals.

Johnson, who came into the game six points shy of 2,000, went the first nine minutes of the game without a point. Even without their leading scorer on the board, the Cubs were able to jump ahead 23-6 early in the second quarter.

Bell City coach David Heeb praised Johnson's unselfish play and smart shot selection.

"He just takes the play that's given to him" Heeb said. "He's going to get you a good shot. He's a great player because he makes the players around him better."

Johnson and Bell City point guard Derek Pobst continued to feed the ball into the post early on. Jeff Liggins and Tyler Victor combined for 12 of Bell City's 18 first-quarter points.

"They did a good job getting the ball inside to us," Victor said.

Bell City got its outside game going in the second quarter with the help of Zak McIntyre, who hit three 3-pointers in the quarter. Johnson scored six in the quarter to capture his 2,000th point.

"We didn't play very good last night, but we played better tonight," Victor said, referring to an 86-48 first-round win over Zalma. "We played a good first half. Derek really did a good job of distributing."

The Cubs led 42-14 at halftime and kept rolling from there. Johnson flexed his scoring muscles in the third, scoring seven straight points for the Cubs and 13 for the quarter.

Johnson finished with a game-high 19 points. Liggins added 17 points for Bell City.

"Jeffrey has a lot of talent, and he played hard tonight," Heeb said of Liggins. "When Jeffrey plays hard he's going to do well."

Bell City 73, Marquand 39

Marquand 6 8 16 9 -- 39

Bell City 18 24 21 10 -- 73

MARQUAND (39) -- Josh King 15, Adam Statler 8, Jay Francis 8, Robet Sutton 2, Levi Lakies 3, Preston Mayberry 3, . FG 11, FT 11-16, F 11 (3-pointers: King 3, Statler 1, Mayberry 1, Francis 1. Fouled out: none)

BELL CITY (73) -- Dominitrix Johnson 19, Jeff Liggins 17, Zak McIntyre 9, Tyler Victor 8, Derek Pobst 8, Randy Conn 5, Kyle Robinette 2, Kerry Lasters 2. FG 28, FT 12-13, F 19 (3-pointers: McIntyre 3, Conn 1, Pobst 1. Fouled out: none)

Delta 68, Oran 63

Delta, trailing 29-27 at halftime, outscored Oran 24-15 in the third quarter on its way to the district finals.

Daniel Cook led four Bobcats in double figures with 14 points. Derek Helderman added 12 and Cody Crowden and Brent Menz had 10 apiece.

Ryan Bouge led Oran (6-15) with 23 points, and Garrett Roslen scored 19.

Oran 18 11 15 19 -- 63

Delta 14 13 24 17 -- 68

ORAN (63) -- Ryan Bouge 23, Garrett Roslen 19, Matt Seyer 6, David Asmus 6, Chase Seyer 6, Jordan Trankler 2, Craig Friga 1. FG 27, FT 6-11, F 18 (3-pointers: Bouge 3. Fouled out: none)

DELTA (68) -- Daniel Cook 14, Derek Helderman 12, Cody Crowden 10, Brent Menz 10, Zack Kelley 8, Kevin Bartels 8, Aaron Kinder 6. FG 25, FT 16-23, F 18 (3-pointers: Menz 2. Fouled out: Bartels)