Basketball

See sectional and district pairings from high school basketball games around the Lima region.

Local teams: Ottawa-Glandorf, Paulding

Local teams: Allen East, Bluffton, Coldwater, Delphos Jefferson, Liberty-Benton, Lima Central Catholic, Parkway, Spencerville

Local teams: Findlay, Lima Senior

WAPAKONETA — Thad Vernon turned in a huge effort to lift Shawnee’s boys basketball team to a Western Buckeye League win at Wapakoneta 54-51 on Friday.

LIMA — The halftime speech paid off.

PERRY TOWNSHIP — Bath put its speed, athleticism and depth on display Tuesday night when the Wildcats paid a visit to Perry at the Leonard Volbert Gymnasium.

DELPHOS — Delphos St. John’s did not get its first lead of the game until the first possession of the second half. Once the Blue Jays got that lead, they did nothing but expand it until the final buzzer.

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BATH TOWNSHIP — A reporter was looking for one of the Rockhold twins after a recent Bath boys basketball game.

LIMA — Dakota Mathias strapped Elida to his back and took the Bulldogs for a fourth-quarter ride.

LIMA — Even in the early going of its 59-41 loss to Ottawa-Glandorf on Saturday night, Lima Senior’s boys basketball team looked a bit leg weary.

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — Dakota Mathias came into the game at Shawnee averaging 28.1 points per game, and the Indians were going to make sure he didn’t get that number against them.

PERRY — It took a little while for Jared Poling to find his rhythm from behind the arc for Perry.

Shawnee (8-6, 4-0 Western Buckeye League) at Elida (6-7, 2-2 WBL), girls basketball

I had the opportunity to watch the Lima Senior High-Elida showdown recently. As usual it was an entertaining match-up that came right down to the wire and the fans who packed the Elida Fieldhouse certainly got their money’s worth. Rivalries like this are often played at a high level because the competitors in the game are focused and playing at full tilt.

LIMA — Two lessons came out of Toledo Whitmer’s 70-64 boys basketball win over Lima Senior on Friday night.

SPENCERVILLE — Tenacious defensive pressure and solid perimeter shooting can be a lethal combination.

OTTAWA — A team is obviously going to have trouble scoring with a low shooting percentage. But getting second and third and even fourth chances at the net helps out considerably.

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — Ottoville coach Todd Turnwald knew his team would be outnumbered heading into Friday.

LIMA — Coaches constantly preach not to give opponents extra opportunities.

LIMA — A basketball game lasts 32 minutes for a reason as both Lima Central Catholic and visiting Crestview discovered Friday night at Monsignor E. C. Herr Gymnasium.

Perry and Delphos Jefferson met on Saturday night with one goal in mind: To prove they were better than their 0-2 records.

LIMA — There wasn’t much need for nail-biting or sitting on the edge of the seat.

LIMA — Sometimes young teams struggle at closing out games.