WARREN — The South Range Raiders ran into the standard bearers of Division III basketball in northeast Ohio when they faced Lutheran East on Friday. Warren G. Harding High School hosted the district finals, and Lutheran East prevailed 69-45.

“We push our guys to make it to the state final four every year,” said Lutheran East coach Samuel Liggins. “This was our eighth straight trip to the district finals. We’ve made it to the final four, five years in a row. We won it all in 2017, and in 2021.

“Our guys work hard. We’ve got one of the bigger teams, for Division III, in the state of Ohio. We knew we had a height advantage coming into tonight.”

The Falcons had four players stand 6-foot-5 or taller, including junior Jesse McCulloch who is 6-foot-9.

The Raiders had a lot to overcome, like they did all season, but they battled to keep it close the majority of the contest.

“The kids work hard,” said South Range coach Todd Irons. “They had some challenges on the court. They had some challenges off the court. But, they never let that get them down. We knew how huge the challenge was tonight. It’s tough to coach against that height. But, they’re skilled too. They’re well coached. Our kids didn’t back down.”

Dylan Turvey (10 points) backed his way down to score underneath the basket in the second quarter. Landon Moore (9 points) took it to the hoop. Sophomore Luke Rohan (team-high 21 points) nailed one from downtown, but South Range trailed 36-21 at halftime.

Rohan tied his career-high with seven 3-pointers in the game.

“We fought,” Rohan said. “We knew we were playing the best team in Division III. So, we tried to step up our game. We moved the ball great. They’re bigger than we are. The season was awesome. We overcame a lot. We had fun. The second half of the season, we started rolling.”

The Raiders outscored Lutheran East 11-10 in the third quarter. Rohan drilled a deep one. Ayden Leon laid one in, and it was 46-32 heading to the fourth.

Leon is the only senior on South Range’s roster.

“We really turned the season around after the start we had,” Leon said. “The team made it really easy for me to be the only senior. I know they’ll be back next year. They play with heart. Everyone stepped up. Lutheran East is a big team. They are good players. We knew it was going to be a challenge. I think we played pretty well through three quarters. It just got away from us at the end.”

Cody Head (game-high 29 points) was unselfish as he dealt out assists behind his back. Ronald Taylor had a breakaway dunk as the Falcons pulled away.

South Range finished the season 15-10 after starting 0-5. The Raiders won the Northeast 8 conference title, and made the district finals for the first time since 2003.

“They wanted to make the most of this season, and they did,” Irons said. “We won a league championship. We got to the district championship for the first time in 20 years. I’m so proud of them.”