Wapakoneta’s Cash Schadl (left) and Nate Metzger try to extract the ball away from Ottawa-Glandorf’s Grant Schroeder during Friday night’s game at Ottawa-Glandorf. See more high school basketball photos at LimaScores.com.
Don Speck | The Lima News
OTTAWA — Ottawa-Glandorf turned what was a close game early into a 56-28 boys basketball win over Wapakoneta, led by a big game by post player Theo Maag, pressure defense and balanced scoring, on Friday night at O-G.
Maag, a 6-7 senior, had 16 points and 9 rebounds.
Hunter Stechschulte had 11 points, nine of them in the first half, and three other Titans scored between 6 and 9 points. Zac Niekamp led Wapakoneta with 14 points, including four 3-pointers.
O-G raised its record to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Western Buckeye League. Wapakoneta is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the WBL.
“Wapak is a tough team to play. They really grind it out and they really defend in the half court and they’re going to make you make plays. I just thought our guys on the defensive end after about the first two minutes really did a good job of taking them out of their rhythm and forcing them out a little further and a lot of good thing happened from there,” Ottawa-Glandorf coach Tyson McGlaughlin said.
Ottawa-Glandorf trailed early in the second quarter but led 25-12 at halftime after outscoring the Redskins 16-2 in the second quarter.
But defense might have have played as big or bigger role than offense in the Titans’ second-quarter takeover.
After Wapakoneta took a 10-9 late in the final minute of the first quarter the Titans held the Redskins scoreless in the first 5 ½ minutes of the second quarter. Caleb Moyer’s bucket to end that drought provided Wapakoneta’s only points in the quarter.
O-G forced nine turnovers in the first half and 17 in the game. “We’re going to press probably everybody we play. We really wanted to get the tempo up and do different things to kind of get them out of their comfort zone.
“That first possession of the game (for Wapakoneta) was a minute, 45 seconds. We can’t do that,” McGlaughlin said. “We wanted to kind of disrupt them and take a couple of gambles and maybe make them play faster than they wanted to. I thought after the first half of the first quarter we did that.
“They make you earn it. That’s their style and they’re really physical and they’re good at what they do,” he said.
Maag and White, who was limited to a season-low 7 points, are the two Titans who were in the starting lineup in the Division III state championship game last March.
“Theo Maag has improved so much and Hunter Stechschulte gave us a real spark in the first half. Theo is so much more physical this season. I think the big thing with him is his confidence. He can score around the basket. His physicality and willingness to bang around the basket is significantly different from last year,” McGlaughlin said.
Reach Jim Naveau at 567-242-0414.
