Versailles, Ohio — A pair of late slams from Connor Stonebraker and Jaydon Litten secured a 57-46 win for Versailles over Fort Loramie on throwback night in the old Versailles high school gym. A hot first half from Caleb Maurer kept the Redskins in the game but 16 points form both Stonebraker and Ben Ruhenkamp helped the Tigers to pull away.

Versailles had a delayed start to their season this year as the Tigers’ football team was able to capture their 7th ever state football championship. The last time they were able to accomplish this feat was in 2003.

The Tigers finished just 8-14 (3-6, MAC) in the regular season last year but was able to make it all the way to the Regional Semifinals and capture a District title. Jaydon Litten and Connor Stonebraker both stepped up big in the postseason last year and are expected to be key contributors on a Versailles team with high expectations.

Versailles senior Jaydon Litten

Fort Loramie wasn’t able to make it out of the Piqua sectional last year like they did the year prior as they fell to the eventual state champions in Botkins. Corey Britton’s squad should be an interesting team to watch this year as they are led by junior guard Caleb Maurer and senior Ty Ruhenkamp.

Caleb Maurer started off hot for Fort Loramie as helped nailed a pair of triples to give Loramie the early lead. Versailles was able to counter that with drives from Litten, Ruhenkamp, and Noah McEldowney to tie the game. Maurer finished with 8 first quarter points but Versailles led 17-13 at the end of the first. The Tigers capitalized on high ball screens as Noah McEldowney was able to dish it to his teammates for easy assists.

Fort Loramie junior Caleb Maurer

Maurer continued to hit tough shots in the second quarter as he kept Fort Loramie close. The ball movement from Versailles led to open shots from Connor Stonebraker as the forward came alive in the second quarter. A late and-one from Ethan Keiser brought the Redskins within one as Versailles went into halftime holding a slim 28-27 lead.

Noah McEldowney made a beautiful pass to Stonebraker down low to setup an easy score to open up the second half for Versailles. Aiden Wehrman’s gritty defense made Versailles uncomfortable in the third quarter and Lane Frilling’s corner three tied the game for Loramie. The Tigers led 38-36 at the conclusion of the third quarter.

Versailles junior Connor Stonebraker

Already leading by six, McEldowney found Ben Ruhenkamp in the corner who knocked down the open three to extend Versailles’ lead to 47-38. Stonebraker finished another sequence by following up his own miss with a bucket plus the foul.

Versailles senior Ben Ruhenkamp

Connor Stonebraker then sealed the game with a two handed dunk courtesy of Ruhenkamp high-arcing pass. This was followed by a roar of emotion by the 6’7″ forward. Stonebraker wasn’t finished just yet as the next play he threw a full court pass to Jaydon Litten who finished off the 57-46 victory with a one handed dunk.

Connor Stonebraker and Ben Ruhenkamp both led Versailles with 16 points while Jaydon Litten had 12 points. The real trouble from Versailles came from Noah McEldowney as the shifty guard set up big shots all night long for the Tiger offense.

Versailles senior Noah McEldowney

Caleb Maurer had 14 points for Fort Loramie but was contained in the second half by Versailles. Logan Eilerman, Ethan Keiser, and Lane Frilling each finished with 7 points but Loramie fell short against a talented Versailles team.

Fort Loramie will face another MAC opponent in St. Henry next Tuesday before rounding out 2021 with a home matchup against Houston. Versailles has four games remaining before the holiday break, but only one of those is a conference game as the Tigers improve to 4-0 tonight.