Spencerville’s Dylan Smith drives against Aaron Moenter from Delphos St. John’s during Saturday’s game in Delphos. See more high school basketball photos at LimaScores.com.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
DELPHOS — A heavy dose of defense along with a little depth, determination and Dylan Smith helped Spencerville get past Delphos St. John’s, 57-45, in a non league matinee affair Saturday.
With the victory, the Bearcats extend their win streak to eight and improve to 14-1 for the season. Delphos falls to 9-4 for the year.
“This is exactly what I expected it to be,” said Spencerville head coach Kevin Sensabaugh about the game’s tight defensive contest. “It was a hard fought defensive struggle and our guys did a really good job in the second half of maintaining composure.”
Sensabaugh added that Delphos had a solid defensive effort but praised his team’s effort for battling through for the win.
“We got good looks we just weren’t making shots and that happens,” Sensabaugh said. “The fact that we won and weren’t making shots shows that we can win in a number of different ways and I was really pleased with our defensive effort.”
After the first eight minutes, Delphos owned a 14-9 advantage but in the second quarter the Bearcats turned the tide as they went on a 18-6 run in the first five minutes to grab a 27-20 lead, the Bearcats’ largest, with 2:43 left in the first half. In that momentum shifting run, Smith scored the final six points of the run.
Delphos, thanks to its own defensive play, rebounded to slice the lead to 29-26 by the time the halftime buzzer sounded. The third period saw a see-saw battle with neither team making a major move and going into the final stanza, the Bearcats were ahead, 40-34.
Spencerville, on the strength of a quick 6-1 run to open the fourth quarter saw the Bearcats open their biggest lead of the game, 46-35, with 4:10 left in the game and that run enabled the Bearcats to hold on for the win.
“A lot of it was them,” said Delphos head coach Aaron Elwer about his team’s inconsistent offensive performance. “This is one of the best, if not the best defensive team we have played so far and maybe the best defensive team we will play all year. They have experience with a lot of length and physicality so obviously they threw our timing off.
“When we did get looks we didn’t shoot a high percentage. It was a great game and they are one of the best teams in the area. Our guys played with great effort and great energy it was just things were really difficult offensively for us today.”
Smith, who had nine points in the fourth quarter, finished with 21 points. Josh Henline, who came in averaging 16 points a game, was limited to 10 points.
Bearcat Carter Sudhoff provided valuable minutes in the paint as he scored eight points and snared 11 rebounds.
“He is such a good rebounder and a difference maker and he changes a lot of shots for us,” Sensabaugh said about Sudhoff. “He plays his butt off. He is a great kid.”
With the Blue Jays clamp down defense, the Bearcats got some bench play that helped with some clutch buckets, including five points from Blake Summers and Carter Orr who grabbed seven caroms.
The Bearcat bench scored 14 points.
For Delphos, Cameron Elwer pumped in 21 points and collected nine rebounds.
