Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer Crestview’s Jonathan Best splits the defense of Columbiana’s Cameron Clancey (15) and Maddox Brown (1).

COLUMBIANA — It has been six years since the Crestview Rebels and the Columbiana Clippers have played each other in athletic competition. Some of the members of both varsity programs were still in elementary school.

The Clippers made up for the lost time with a resounding 73-39 victory over the Rebels to advance to the Heartland Christian Holiday Tournament championship game tonight. They will play the hosting Heartland Christian Lions at 7 p.m.

With the victory, the Clippers have improved to 5-2 on the year. For the Rebels, the loss drops them to 2-5 on the season.

Since the breakup of the ITCL, the two programs have had a strained relationship, so the game being played at all was perhaps more important than the final score. Heartland’s Athletic Director Josh Scott thought the Lions’ tournament presented a unique opportunity.

“They were, and we were aware of the relationship, and personally, it was an effort from me to see if they would give it a shot,” Scott said. “They both said since it is a neutral floor, it would be OK. My hope is that they would see that it’s okay to keep playing.”

The capacity crowd that packed Heartland Christian’s gymnasium featured a large student cheering section behind each bench, making the atmosphere more like a regional championship game rather than a nonconference game in December.

“I’m happy that we were able to get together,” Clipper head coach Todd Johnson said. “I hope this can continue. It was big for both communities. It was a packed house. Student sections from both sides were yelling and screaming. It was like I was back in high school. I played in this gym for Columbiana. It was a great atmosphere.”

“We have been dying to play some of the local teams like Columbiana and East Palestine,” Rebels head coach Rick Gates said. “Just walking out and looking at the stands, with two full cheering sections. It was just an awesome high school atmosphere, and that is what high school sports is all about. We are just hoping that this can continue.”

The contest also featured a record-setting night. Clippers junior guard Seth Struharik drained nine threes in the contest to tie a school record.

“The kid is a knockdown shooter,” Johnson said. “He put in a ton of work in the offseason to do what he did tonight. I’m proud of the effort he put in and the confidence he has in himself. I can’t say enough about Seth Struharik and the body of work he has put together so far, and he will continue to put it together.”

“I was just feeling hot,” Struharik added. “My teammates were all working for me, and it felt great. I was just locked in.”

With the Clippers leading by 12 at halftime, they blew the game wide open in the third quarter. They began the frame with a 13-4 run to pull out to a 21-point 46-21 lead midway through the period. Struharik would launch two of his treys in the quarter as the Clippers held a commanding 30-point, 63-33 advantage by the close of the quarter.

“We had a great two days of practice. I always say to these guys that we don’t lose, we learn,” Johnson remarked about his team following the loss last week to Springfield. “We learned how we can get better as a unit and how we can get better as a team.”

Struharik would bury his eighth and ninth three early in the fourth period as he hit his eight at the 6:50 mark and then tied the record with his ninth with 6:21 left in the contest. He would throw up four more shots from beyond the arc in the next four minutes trying to set a new record, but unfortunately, each one was off target.

The Clippers led the entire contest as they raced out to a 21-8 lead by the close of the first quarter. They continued to pull away from the Rebels in the second as they put together a 9-6 run to hold a 30-14 lead by the midway point of the quarter. The Rebels would fight back as they went into halftime with a 7-3 run to keep it at just a 12-point, 33-21 Clipper lead.

“In the end, we really just tried to focus on getting some good offensive flow,” Gates said. “We tried to play some good man-to-man defense. Going back to basics a little bit. We’re juggling a lot of younger kids, and it is a struggle at times.”

While the Clippers will play in the championship game tonight, the Rebels will try to bounce back when they face the McDonald Blue Devils in tonight’s consolation contest. The tip-off for the Rebels will be at 5:30 p.m.

sports@vindy.com