DAYTON, Ohio — Braylon Cordonnier scored 22 points and Dominic Francis added 21 while Russia beat Willoughby Cornerstone Christian Academy 74-57 to go undefeated and win the state title in the OHSAA Division VII boys’ basketball state championship game at UD Arena on Saturday.
Russia (29-0) held the Patriots to eight points in the third quarter and shot 63.6% in the period lengthening the Raiders’ 38-34 halftime lead.
Cordonnier and Francis combined for eight points in the fourth quarter while Russia saw Vince Borchers score 10 in the final frame.
Willoughby Cornerstone Christian Academy (21-9) came as close as 11 points after a Hudson Funk layup with 2:58 to play, but an 8-0 run keyed by two fastbreak scores including a two-handed dunk by Francis sealed Russia’s first state championship.
“These guys have been on a mission all year, and since day one,” Russia head coach Spencer Cordonnier said. “This was one of their goals was to get here, OK. They just put so much work in and are so very coachable.”
Russia made its third-straight appearance in the state final four and this time came out on top after failing to get past the semifinals the past two years. It won the first-ever Division VII state championship after the OHSAA expanded to seven divisions before the school year.
The Raiders completed a trifecta of a 29-0 season and state championship victory, all the while earning win No. 1,000 as a program this season.
“We’ve been together for the last, I don’t know how many years, 10, 11, I think,” Braylon Cordonnier said. “Last two years been playing with some upperclassmen, but to come back into the senior year, play with all these guys again, and to get it done with them just feels great.”
Quinn Kwasniak, who broke Jon Diebler’s record as all-time leading scorer in Ohio with over 3,300 points, led all scorers with 38 points, which are 13th-most in a state championship game regardless of division. Matthew Lindic also scored 10 points.
Willoughby Cornerstone Christian Academy shot 47.8% from the field and went 7-for-15 from 3-point land. “I’ve won five of these things and I’d rather lose with these guys because, man, they gave us everything they had,” Willoughby Cornerstone Christian Academy head coach Babe Kwasniak said.
