Local Sports

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Boys D-III Sectional Finals: L-B and O-G roll

By TED RADICK

Staff writer

Knowing what it was they up against Friday, the Elmwood boys basketball team chose to go out on its shields.

Elmwood likes to force a fast tempo, and run-and-gun Ottawa-Glandorf obliged as O-G won the Division III sectional final at Findlay, 78-54. The Titans (17-4) advance to play Delphos Jefferson (15-7) 8 p.m. Wednesday.

In Friday's first game, Liberty-Benton cruised to an early 14-2 lead en route to a 65-45 win over Riverdale. The Eagles (21-0) will play Lima Central Catholic (17-4) 6:15 p.m. Wednesday at Elida.

In the nightcap, Elmwood got off to a quick start. The Royals forced a couple of turnovers in the opening minutes and Jay Hannah's 3-pointer gave Elmwood a 7-2 lead.

"What we kind of expected to happen early, happened," Ottawa-Glandorf coach Josh Leslie said. "We thought we'd have some jitters early; you always do in the first tournament game.

"That's a concern when you're playing a team that's already played a tournament game and is used to the surroundings."

The Titans started cranking up their game midway through the first quarter. Brian Laubenthal hit a 3-pointer, Landon Pothast converted an inside shot and Josh Johnson connected on a 3-pointer. The Titans were off to the races and ran off to a 18-1 run to go up 20-8.

"You can't beat them if they shoot like that," Elmwood coach Ty Traxler said. "There's not a team in the state that can beat them if they shoot that well."

Johnson hit three straight shots from the elbow, a 3-pointer and a shot from just inside the arc in the second quarter. The 6-foot-1 senior was 2 of 3 from 3-point range in the first half and 7 of 8 from the field for 16 first-half points. Johnson would finish with a game-high 21 points on a night when the Titans hit 11 3-point shots.

"It didn't what matter defense we played, it didn't matter what adjustments we tried to make," Traxler said. "It was a moot point tonight. Our plan was to mix in some different defenses.

"We tried man, we tried 1-3-1, we tried a triangle-and-two and a box-and-one on Johnson. Man, he's athletic. You can't stay with him even when you're trying to face guard him."

Ottawa-Glandorf raced to a 40-22 halftime lead and scored 18 of the first 19 points of the third quarter.

Jordan Alt had 13 points for the Titans, and Brian Laubenthal hit four 3-pointers for 12 points. Adam Tyson led Elmwood (13-9) with 13 points. Hannah and T. J. Waldock each scored 11 points.

In the opener, Liberty-Benton used a 10-2 run in the third quarter to open some breathing room against Riverdale. Senior guard Aaron Craft scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as the Eagles broke open a five-point halftime lead. Craft also had a game-high nine rebounds.

"I thought we played a pretty decent first half," Riverdale coach Steve Mittendorf said. "If we had made some shots and checked out on a few possessions and not let them get second chances, we would have been right where we needed to be at halftime.

Craft sat out the last 7 minutes, 30 seconds of the first half after picking up his second foul. The Falcons cut a 16-7 L-B lead to 22-17 by halftime, but Mittendorf said that wasn't enough.

"We really probably needed to do more in that second quarter while he was out," Mittendorf said. "We turned it over our last two possessions."

Craft hit a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and scored 15 points in the final eight minutes as the Eagles won their 20th consecutive sectional title. Zac Cramer and Zach Jones (five rebounds) added 10 points for Liberty-Benton, with Brett Pasche scoring nine points and Jordan Benson eight.

"That balanced scoring is what we need come tournament time," said Liberty-Benton assistant coach Ben Gerken. "They came out in a triangle-and-two trying to take Jordan Benson away and of course trying to guard Aaron, and the other guys stepped up."

Ryan Frey led Riverdale (16-4) with 25 points. Derek Draper had seven points and eight rebounds.

first game

riverdale (45)

Hankins 0-0--0, Fox 1-0--3, Rose 0-1--1, McKee 1-0--3, Spiegel 2-0--6, Bra. Weber 0-0--0, Elwood 0-0--0, Wells 0-0--0, Frey 11-1--25, Dilley 0-0--0, Draper 2-3--7, Bro. Weber 0-0--0, Hill 0-0--0. TOTALS: 17 5--45.

liberty-benton (65)

Craft 7-11--26, Burt 0-0--0, Benson 2-2--8, Cramer 4-1--10, Windle 0-0--0, M. Linhart 0-0--0, Kanable 0-0--0, Jones 5-0--10, Pasche 4-0--9, Stanton 1-0--2, Rucki 0-0--0, S. Linhart 0-0--0, Torres 0-0--0. TOTALS: 23 14--65.

Riverdale 7 10 12 16 -- 45

Liberty-Benton 14 8 17 26 -- 65

3-Point GOALS: Liberty-Benton 5 (Benson 2, Craft, Cramer, Pasche); Riverdale 6 (Frey & Spiegel 2, McKee, Fox).

rebounds: Riverdale 23 (Draper 8); Liberty-Benton 26 (Craft 9).

turnovers: Riverdale 14, Liberty-Benton 9.

second game

Elmwood (54)

Davis 0-2--2, Tyson 3-5--13, Rothenbuhler 3-2--8, Rosendale 0-0--0, Huettner 0-4--4, J. Waldock 1-0--2, Stewart 1-0--3, Hammer 0-0--0, Hannah 4-2--11, T. Waldock 5-1--11, Zyski 0-0--0, Chamberlain 0-0--0. TOTALS: 17 16--54.

Ottawa-Glandorf (78)

Buckland 0-0--0, Kuhlman 3-0--6, Laubenthal 4-0--12, Schomaeker 2-0--5, Johnson 8-2--21, Kahle 1-0--2, Alt 5-0--13, Peck 1-0--2, Hershberger 0-1--1, Q. Kaufman 0-0--0, Pothast 3-0--6, D. Ellerbrock 2-0--4, Trenkamp 0-0--0, L. Kaufman 1-1--3, R. Ellerbrock 1-1--3. TOTALS: 31 5--78.

Elmwood 11 11 13 19 -- 54

Ottawa-Glandorf 20 20 26 12 -- 78

3-Point GOALS: Elmwood 4 (Tyson 2, Stewart, Hannah); Ottawa-Glandorf 11 (Laubenthal 4, Johnson & Alt 3, Shomaeker).

rebounds: Elmwood 26 (Hannah 6); Ottawa-Glandorf 38 (Hershberger 7).

turnovers: Elmwood 18, Ottawa-Glandorf 16.

Radick, 419-427-8405

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1 Comment

Tavis wrote:

20 Straight Sectional Titles?

That is unbelievable. I wonder how often that happens across the state.

Saturday, March 06, 2010 3:54:59 PM

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