Collin Feathers from Delphos St. John’s attempts to get the ball away from Shawnee’s Keegan Wilson during Saturday’s game at DSJ. See more high school basketball photos at LimaScores.com.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
DELPHOS — Shawnee must have thought there were two or three Cameron Elwer’s on the court.
He had an impact everywhere.
Then, there was the Delphos St. John’s smothering defense.
Etzler and the St. John’s defense powered the Blue Jays to a 48-35 victory against Shawnee in a boys basketball game Saturday afternoon at Robert Arznen Gymnasium.
At the offensive end, freshman guard Elwer had 27 points with four 3-pointers. He also had 11 rebounds.
Elwer knocked down threes, hit pull-up jumpers in the lane and took it to the basket.
“He’s always had an attacking mindset,” St. John’s coach Aaron Elwer said about his son. “I think one of his biggest strengths is his presence on the floor. He never gets too high or too low, depending on how things go. … It’s fun to watch him and even more enjoyable is how the older guys have embraced him. He’s one of the guys.’’
Coach Elwer said he first saw special basketball qualities in Cameron at an early age.
“Some of the stuff he was doing at the age of three, it wasn’t normal,” coach Elwer said. “His movements and the way he could handle the ball and he’s steadily progressed.’’
And at the defensive end, St. John’s man-to-man held Shawnee under 50 points (35) for the first time this year.
“They were just really physical,” Shawnee coach Mark Triplett said. “They were the more physical team on the inside and on the outside. I thought they came out and outhusted us, beat us to loose balls and second-chance opportunities.
“They held us to 15 points in a half,” Triplett said. We’ve been a team that usually averages 65 to 70 points a game the last several years. They held us to 35, so that’s pretty good defense today.’’
St. John’s, which has won three in a row, is 6-2. Shawnee is 6-5.
“Being prepared and being able to guard gives you a chance,” Elwer said. “We have to defend and play hard and this weekend was about as good as a group effort as we’ve had in two games in a long time.’’
St. John’s knocked off Fort Recovery Friday. Shawnee was coming off Friday loss at Defiance.
Landen Grothaus added 14 points with three 3-pointers for the Blue Jays.
Keegan Wilson and Dominic Lynch both paced Shawnee with seven points.
Beckett Bertke had six points and seven rebounds.
Austin Miller, who was in foul trouble most of the day, had four points and four rebounds.
Elwer and Aaron Moenter were among the defenders on Miller.
“We wanted to limit his touches when we could,” Elwer said of Miller.
St. John’s led 13-3 early, but Shawnee got within 24-20 at the half.
With five-plus minutes left in the third, St. John’s led 29-26.
That’s when the Blue Jays went on an 8-0 run to make it 37-26 with 2:57 left in the third.
Elwer made three foul shots and hit a 3-pointer during that burst.
The Blue Jays led 39-28 after three quarters and Shawnee couldn’t make a final run.
St. John’s started the fourth quarter on 9-2 run to pull out to a 48-30 lead.
During that run, Elwer scored on a driving layup, a fastbreak layup and a 3-pointer. Grothaus added a layup during that run.
Shawnee won the boards, 29-26.
But Shawnee shot 33 percent from the field and was 1 of 12 on 3-pointers.
“We could not make shots,” Triplett said. “I thought we got decent looks. That’s basketball. Credit them, they played really well, defensively.’’
St. John’s shot 41 percent from the field and was 8 of 16 on 3-pointers.
With the Blue Jays leading 5-3, Elwer scored on a fastbreak layup and two 3-pointers to make it 13-3, Jays.
St. John’s led 16-10 after the first quarter.
Shawnee’s Miller sat most of the second quarter when he picked up his second foul at the 7:05 mark of the second.
Elwer had 12 points at the half.
Tom Usher wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
