Tournament Magic 25 Years Ago

The 2025 Tournament Brackets for high school girls basketball were set on Sunday. For a few lucky teams, an unpredictable magical moment will highlight their tournament trail. For Russia fans, it was a quarter century ago when folks saw a magic show and arguably the greatest comeback in school history.

The date was February 16, 2000 and #3-seed Russia's offense disappeared in the fourth quarter versus West Liberty-Salem in the opening round of the Sidney sectional. With exactly 60 seconds remaining in regulation, the Raiders trailed the Tigers by 12 points. Foul trouble was an added problem as starters Cassie Francis had four, Andrea Puthoff four, Abby Cordonnier four, Ashley Homan four and Laura Borchers three.

Cassie Francis, a sophomore with 17 points at the time, recalled the bleak moment to Fish Report this past Saturday. 

"When we were down 12 points with a minute to play, I looked at our student section and some boys were leaving for the exit." 

Seven seconds later Francis hit a three-pointer to cut the West Liberty lead to nine. What happened over the next 53 seconds was hocus pocus that even Harry Houdini would be proud of. Listen to the radio call on Hits 105.5 from the late Jim McBee and Lloyd Shoemaker:

Senior Abby Cordonnier, who later finalized her career as Russia's all-time leading scorer with 1,221 points, still remembers the crazy final minute of regulation and red hot shooting from her teammate Francis, in her comments to Fish Report on Sunday. 

"We ran flare twice and she hit both the three-pointers. Before the last one we called a timeout and changed the name of the play to rocket to try to throw them off, which it did and she nailed it! She was hot and we got her the ball. That last minute was something else."

In overtime, senior Laura Borchers scored five points on Russia's first two possessions and the Raiders won by the final score of 71-64. Head coach Don Cordonnier, who led the program from 1989 through 2004, was quoted after the game.

"It was probably the best game I've ever been a part of coaching wise. I've never seen anything like it. Cassie was just unconscious that final minute. We just kept running that stupid flare play because it was working and she kept knocking down the threes."

A week later, Russia captured the sectional championship over Springfield Catholic Central and eventually fell in the district tournament to league foe Jackson Center. In the years to come, Francis would go on to set several school records that still stand today, including passing her former teammate Cordonnier for the all-time scoring record. Francis' career total of 1,282 points is the current high mark for both the girls and boys programs. Fish Report listened to the radio call with Francis on Sunday and asked her what she remembers most about that historic night. 

"I can still feel the feelings I felt 25 years ago when I listen to that tape. It's probably the best memory of my four years playing. It has always stuck with me that Don never stopped coaching. Down 12 with a minute. I feel like most would have thrown in the towel. I loved playing for Don."

Here's the full report as documented by sportswriter and Russia graduate, the late Matt Zircher.