Local Sports

Monday, March 15, 2010

Boys basketball: O-G builds big lead, but can't hold on

By DAVE HANNEMAN

Staff Writer

ELIDA -- Patience may be a virtue.

As far as Lima Central Catholic coach Bob Seggerson is concerned, it's not a bad strategy, either.

Ottawa-Glandorf blitzed LCC 22-7 in the first 11 minutes of the game and led the Thunderbirds 25-9 with three minutes left in the first half.

LCC whittled the deficit to 25-20 at the half, caught and tied the Titans 35-35 after three periods, and mounted one final rally in the final 2:50 to post a 48-40 victory in the boys Division III district championship game at the Elida Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.

“I just told our kids to calm down,” Seggerson said of a second-quarter timeout that became a pivot point in LCC's comeback.

“I thought the key to the game was we remained composed after a great start by Ottawa where they not only got ahead but they energized that wonderful crowd they have. There was a lot of pressure on us. But our kids stayed composed. I told them that, because of the pace Ottawa's plays, they were always going to be in the game.”

Just 3-4 after its first seven games, Lima Central Catholic chalked up its 16th straight win and earned a spot in Wednesday's 6:15 p.m. Division III regional semifinals at Bowling Green State University against Centerburg. Ottawa-Glandorf's season ended at 18-5.

“After we went up 25-9 we went cold. We just didn't sustain making our shots,” said O-G coach Josh Leslie.

“We had all the momentum. If we'd just gotten a few more baskets there. If we had played them even, it could have been entirely different.”

Josh Johnson fueled O-G's fast start. The senior guard hit a “2” and a “3” in the first quarter, then another “2” and a “3” to put the Titans up 22-7 with 4:54 left in the first half. Fouled on another 3-point attempt, Johnson hit all three free throws to make it 25-9.

That's when Seggerson called his time out.

“I was a little angry because on our first 10 possessions I think all we did was jack up '3s'. That's not the sign of a good team,” Seggerson said. “We needed to get the ball to the rim.”

Attacking inside did more than generate higher percentage shots, it also got LCC to the line where the T-Birds could score points with the clock stopped. Jon Steiger, a 6-foot-4 junior, did most of the damage, scoring eight second-quarter points as LCC ended the half on an 11-0 run.

“We didn't play that well in the first half,” Seggerson said. “But at least we got it (the deficit) back to a distance where we could at least talk about it.”

LCC got more inside/outside balance in the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Sam Stolly, a 6-5 senior, tied the game 25-25 and eight points from Ty O'Conner, a 6-4 sophomore, made it a possession-by-possession game.

O-G went up 39-35 early in the fourth quarter on a steal and lay-up by Ryan Kuhlman and an offensive put-back by Matt Peck.

When LCC went the first four minutes of the fourth quarter without a point, Seggerson called another time out. This one paid off, too.

A basket by Desi Lirkman ended LCC's drought and two free throws by Stolly tied the game with 1:45 to play.

Quinn Kaufman's foul shot gave O-G one more lead at 40-39. But Billy Taflinger, 0-for-3 on “3s” at that point, knocked down a game-turning trey for the T-Birds.

O-G would miss three 3-pointers in the final minute. O'Connor made the Titans pay, hitting 6 of 6 free throw attempts in the final 52 seconds.

“We still had every chance to win the game,” Leslie said. “We had a two-point lead with 1:47 left and had a couple of 3-point opportunities that could have kicked it to five. But we didn't make either one and Taflinger hit that '3' out on top.”

Johnson finished with 13 points and Travis Schomaeker nine for O-G. O'Connor had 15 points and Stolly 11 for LCC, which outscored O-G 17-5 from the line.

“We had some kids step up and we made some plays at the end,” Seggerson said.

“It was just a great district final between two very, very good teams slugging it out and we were the ones standing at the end.

“I've got a lot of respect for Ottawa, their fans and their coach. But it was our day today.”

OTTAWA-GLANDORF (40)

Johnson 4-13 3-3 13, Schomaeker 4-9 0-0 9, Kaufman 2-4 1-2 5, Kuhlman 2-5 0-1 4, Peck 2-4 0-0 4, Laubenthal 1-7 1-1 3, Hershberger 1-2 0-0 2, Alt 0-1 0-0 0, Ellerbrock 0-1 0-1 0, Trenkamp 0-1 0-0 0, Pothast 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-49 5-8--40.

Lima Central Catholic (48)

O'Connor 3-8 8-10 15, S. Stolly 3-9 2-2 11, Steiger 2-4 4-4 8, Kirkman 3-6 0-1 6, A. Stolly 0-5 3-6 3, Taflinger 1-4 0-0 3, Krieg 1-1 0-1 2, Kidd 0-1 0-0 0, Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Rigali 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13-39 17-24--48.

Ottawa-Glandorf 13 12 10 5 -- 40

Lima Central Catholic 5 15 15 13 -- 48

3-Point GOALS: Lima Central Catholic 5-18 (S. Stolly 3-8, Taflinger 1-4, O'Connor 1-2, A. Stolly 0-2, Kirkman 0-1, Kidd 0-1); Ottawa-Glandorf 3-15 (Johnson 2-6, Schomaeker 1-3, Laubenthal 0-3, Peck 0-2, Alt 0-1).

rebounds: Lima Central Catholic 35 (Steiger & O'Connor 6); Ottawa-Glandorf 29 (Pothast 7).

ASSISTS: Lima Central Catholic 10 (Krieg 4); Ottawa-Glandorf 7 (Laubenthal 5). STEALS: Lima Central Catholic 5 (O'Connor 2); Ottawa-Glandorf 3. BLOCKED SHOTS: Ottawa-Glandorf 3 (Pothast 3); Lima Central Catholic 1.

turnovers: Ottawa-Glandorf 8, Lima Central Catholic 7.

FOULS: Ottawa-Glandorf 20, Lima Central Catholic 12.

Hanneman: 419-427-8408,

davehanneman@thecourier.com

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