Division III Toledo Regional Standouts

I attended the doubleheader on Wednesday evening at Savage Arena on the University of Toledo's campus where Sandusky took down Lutheran West and Lima Shawnee defeated Toledo Central Catholic to advance to the Division III Region 10 championship on Saturday, March 8th again at Savage Arena. In this article I'll break down the standout performers.    After an up and down regular season I was wondering if this historic Sandusky senior class had one last push left in their tank. They answered my question by advancing to the first regional final in school history in a game where seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1672053' first='Kobe' last='Brown'] and Aaron were huge down the stretch. I thought the Blue Streaks had to make six 3-pointers to have a chance and Aaron knocked down a couple high-arcing 3-pointers in key moments. The highlight of the game came in transition when Aaron followed up a missed layup and threw it down with authority. Another big time athlete from the guard position, Aaron fits what Sandusky wants to do, which is play high pressure defense at a fast tempo.     The end of the road for Lutheran West as they've been one of the best teams in northeast Ohio for the past three seasons. Meyer left it all on the court as the senior was incredibly effective scoring in the paint. I thought Meyer had a couple tough lefty finishes at the rim and his baseline slam dunk was the last life that the Longhorns had as the game was winding down. With numerous top Division III programs recruiting Meyer hard, he's got the skillset to be an all-conference performer at the college level.     I'm not sure how many 2026 prospects I'd take to win a high school basketball game before I'd take Bertke. Just a flat out competitor, Bertke shines brightest in the biggest moments. A high motor wing prospect, Bertke does an excellent job of cutting off the ball and crashing the offensive glass for easy layups. Never sped up, Bertke is patient and made some nice passes including an alley-oop to his little brother for a sweet slam dunk. We'll see if the Bertke brothers have another signature performance in them on Saturday when they play for the regional title.     A role player for Lima Shawnee, Bender made some clutch plays on Wednesday evening to help push his team to victory. First off the floor spacing he provides as a shooter makes life easier for all of his teammates and Bender was the recipient of a few leak out layups that Lima Shawnee executes as well as any team in the state. You can complain about cherry picking against bad teams, but Lima Shawnee executes it against the best teams on the biggest stages. At the end of the game Lima Shawnee had a couple turnovers against full court pressure but Bender did a nice job getting the ball inbounded to his team. I'm sure Sandusky will try and speed up Lima Shawnee on Saturday and Bender will have to be ready.     On a night where not many Irish connected from long range, it was Johnson making plays all over the court. A dynamic lead guard who can set the table at a high level, Johnson had some slick assists to cutters and players sitting at the dunker spot. With his athletic gifts Johnson can also score at the rim with a floater, lefty finish in traffic and a putback layup. The biggest step Johnson and a few of his teammates can make going into next season will be confidence as spot-up shooters from beyond the arc. If Toledo Central Catholic can consistently make shots from 3-point range, they'll have a chance to win the state title next season.

I attended the doubleheader on Wednesday evening at Savage Arena on the University of Toledo's campus where Sandusky took down Lutheran West and Lima Shawnee defeated Toledo Central Catholic to advance to the Division III Region 10 championship on Saturday, March 8th again at Savage Arena. In this article I'll break down the standout performers.