DIVISION III SECTIONAL FINAL … Luc Borojevich drives the lane with Cardinal Stritch’s Christian Burton close behind. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
WAUSEON – Swanton had no answer for Cardinal Stritch guard Christian Burton who dropped 26 points along with setting up teammates for buckets on several occasions in a 57-46 win over No. 2 Swanton in the Division III sectional finals.
A tightly contested opening stanza ended with two field goals by Burton to give the Cardinals a 13-9 advantage after one quarter.
Swanton gathered some momentum with a 9-3 run to begin the second quarter as Nic Borojevich had a quick five points before Kayden Davis and Luc Borojevich each added two free throws to give Swanton the lead at 18-16.
Burton then led a 9-0 Cardinals surge with a bucket and two free throws, Owen Yost had a jumper, and Breon Hicks scored on an offensive rebound as the Stritch lead ballooned to 25-18.
Swanton was able to close the deficit to 25-21 starting the second half but a big third quarter by Stritch allowed them to push the lead back to double-digits.
The Cardinals were 8/11 (72%) in the quarter led by four buckets from Hicks as they outscored the Bulldogs, who were just 3/10 (30%) shooting, 16-9 to take a 41-30 lead into the fourth.
Swanton would claw their way back thanks to an 11-4 run as Nic Borojevich had four points and Luc Borojevich hit a long jumper to trim the Stritch lead to 45-41 at the 4:50 mark.
The Bulldogs kept the pressure on with a Nic Borojevich turnaround jumper to make it a one possession game at 47-44 with 2:35 remaining.
Burton then put the Cardinals on his back with two makes from the foul line and two field goals during an 8-0 run by Stritch to take control of the game as their lead grew to 55-44.
The Cardinals (17-7) finished the night 22/40 shooting and 13/17 (76%) at the free throw line, including 8/8 in the fourth quarter.
Swanton (20-3) shot 14/44 (31%) from the floor and was 15/20 (75%) at the charity stripe with Nic Borojevich topping the Bulldogs in scoring with 25 points.
STRITCH 13 12 16 16 – 57
SWANTON 9 12 9 16 – 46
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com