ONTARIO — Shaquan Coburn continued his second-half scoring rampage Friday night, which was good news for Ontario.
The Richland Bank Athlete of the Week, Coburn scored 27 points as the Warriors avenged a regular season loss to cross-county rival Lexington with a 58-49 win in the Division II sectional championship game at Bucyrus High School’s Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
A rangy, 6-foot-2 senior guard, Coburn connected on eight of 14 field goal attempts and knocked down three 3-pointers. He was perfect on eight attempts from the free throw line, including six in the final 32 seconds to seal the win.
“He has played so well the last seven or eight games,” Ontario coach Joe Balogh said. “He has had that passion.”
Coburn’s scoring binge began when he dropped a career-high 28 points in an 80-66 win at Galion on the final day of January. The Warriors are 6-1 since then and are in the district tournament for a second straight year.
“I know I’ve got to shoot the ball more. Coach told me to shoot the ball,” Coburn said. “If I’m open, just shoot it.”
Coburn has developed into one of the most lethal perimeter shooters in north central Ohio. He connected on 44 percent of his 3-point attempts during the regular season (47-107) and was three-for-five Friday.
“Shaquan Coburn lit it up in all aspects,” junior point guard Griffin Shaver said. “He’s a whole different person. He’s consistent from 3, he’s beating his guy off the dribble. That’s the Shaquan we’ve been trying to get.”
Ontario (17-6) fell at Lexington 59-49 in mid-December. The Warriors were 1-2 at the time and were still searching for their chemistry.
“That was our third game and we just lost Chance (Mott) the game before,” Balogh said. “The brilliant idea I had was to maybe play (Coburn) at the four. That didn’t work and he didn’t like it.
“Really after that game, we settled in on a better rotation of players,” Balogh said.
Ontario plays top-seeded Upper Sandusky in the district semifinals Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. at Madison. The Rams (22-1) beat Mansfield Senior 62-61 in double overtime on a controversial last-second basket, running their winning streak to 22 games.
“We’re excited we get the chance to go to the district again,” Balogh said. “That’s what it’s about.”
Coburn agreed.
“This is an incredible feeling,” he said Friday. “I’ll never forget these moments.”
