Columbiana’s Trey Snyder drives during Tuesday’s OVAC Class 3A semifinal against Monroe Central. (Morning Journal/Lowell Spencer)

COLUMBIANA — The Columbiana Clippers knew that they had a tough task ahead of them when they faced the defending Division VI state champion the Monroe Central Seminoles in an OVAC Class 3A semifinal tournament game on Tuesday night.

And despite a valiant effort by the Clippers in the contest, the Seminoles demonstrated why they are defending state champions, pulling away for an 80-48 victory over the Clippers. The loss drops the Clippers to 15-5 on the season while the Seminoles improve to 15-3 on the year.

“They were the state champs for a reason,” Clippers head coach Todd Johnson stated. “They have kids that share the basketball extremely well, shoot it extremely well, and they are well coached. They play hard, and we knew it was going to be a mountain. At times, we did some stuff that was okay, and at times we did a lot of stuff that wasn’t okay. You do a couple of things, and it really snowballs on you, and it did on us.”

“Columbiana has a pretty good team,” Seminoles head coach Mason Lang said. “They have a good offensive core. Numbers 0 (Cooper Brown) and 35 (Senator Johnson) can really fill it up. I think they have four players that were close to double-digit in scoring, which makes them a real threat.”

Throughout the contest, every time the Clippers were able to get a stop on defense and make a small run at the Seminoles, the Noles seemed to be able to flip the switch and respond with a strong run of their own. To add insult to injury, the Clippers had no answer to slow down the Seminoles junior forward Corbin Farnsworth as he tallied a game-high 30 points in the contest.

The Seminoles led from tipoff to the final buzzer as they jumped out to a 9-point 18-9 lead with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter. But the Clippers were able to cut the deficit down to 20-12 by the end of the period.

Following a basket and one by Carter Johnson at the 3:37 mark of the second quarter, the Clippers had made it a 6-point, 23-17 contest. However, the Seminoles responded with a 10-0 run over the next 2:40 of the game. The run occurred in part when Senator Johnson picked up his third foul in the contest and had to sit on the bench. The Seminoles held an 11-point, 33-22 advantage at the halftime intermission.

“We thought from watching film that they (Columbiana) would struggle to guard our offense with the way that we play with our movement, and the ability to create double and triple gaps to attack,” Lang said. “I think it kind of played out the way I expected for us offensively. When 35 (Johnson) got into foul trouble there, it kind of took a little bit of gas out of them.”

“With him on the bench, offensively that hurt us a little bit, but we had a couple young kids that stepped up and played pretty well tonight with the effort they gave,” coach Johnson added.

The Seminoles wasted no time in asserting themselves in the second half as they went on a 15-4 run to start the third quarter. By that point, the Seminoles had built a 22-point advantage at 48-26. The Clippers kept battling as Zander Oliver knocked down a three just before the close of the period to make 59-38 in favor of the Seminoles.

Oliver continued with a hot hand as he drilled another trey and two free throws to start the fourth quarter. That cut the deficit to 16 at 59-43. But once again, the Seminoles responded as they went on an 8-2 run to make it 67-45. They closed the game outscoring the Clippers 13-3 to reach the 32-point final margin.

“He came in and played his butt off,” coach Johnson said of Oliver’s effort. “He got into kids, handled the ball, and took the ball strong. He has never really shied away from the moment. When he got the opportunity tonight, he was able to provide some production.”

In addition to Farnsworth’s 30 points, Caedyn Silva added 13, Blake Vontz 11, and Hunter Habig 10. Cooper Howell and Farnsworth each had seven rebounds to control the boards for the Seminoles.

“It was good for us to come here on a long road trip in front of a great student section that showed out tonight for Columbiana. I’m just happy to get out of here with a win,” Lang said.

The Clippers were led by Senator Johnson with 16 points, while Zander Oliver came off the bench to score 13, including two three-pointers. Cooper Brown hauled down 8 rebounds to pace the Clippers on the boards.

“This (Monroe Central) is a great basketball team. It is great competition. It will prepare us for the tournament,” coach Johnson said.

The Seminoles will face top-seed Wheeling Central in the OVAC title game on Saturday at the ECO Center. The Maroon Knights are a defending state champion in West Virgnia and have beaten the Noles twice already this season. The Clippers host Martins Ferry on Friday in their next game as a consolation contest in the OVAC tournament.

MC: 20-13-26-21–80

CO: 12-10-16-10–48

MONROE CENTRAL SCORING: Cooper Howell 2, 1-2, 6, Blake Vontz 4, 0-0, 11, Max Demchak 3, 0-0, 8, Caedyn Silva 6, 0-0, 13, Corbin Farnsworth 13, 1-2, 30, Maddox Henderson 1, 0-0, 2, Hunter Habig 4, 0-0, 10. TEAM TOTALS: 33, 2-4: 80.

COLUMBIANA SCORING: Cooper Brown 3, 1-4, 7, Trey Snyder 2, 1-2, 7, Carter Johnson 1, 1-1, 3, Hunter Davanzo 1, 0-0, 2, Senator Johnson 7, 0-0, 16, Zander Oliver 4, 3-4, 13, Jacob Parks 0, 0-2, 0. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 6-13: 48

Three-point goals: Monroe Central 12 (Vontz 3, Farnsworth 3, Demchak 2, Habig 2, Howell 1, Silva 1); Columbiana 6 (Snyder 2, Senator Johnson 2, Oliver 2).