Delphos Jefferon’s Caden Carder looks to make a pass against Spencerville’s Dylan Smith (11) and Josh Henline during Friday night’s game at Spencerville. Head to LimaScores.com for more photos.
Jackelyn Johnson I The Lima News
SPENCERVILLE — The pace could have been described as frantic.
But Spencerville wouldn’t have it any other way.
In Friday’s key Northwest Conference boys basketball game against visiting Delphos Jefferson, Spencerville stepped on the gas pedal right from the opening tip-off and never let up, en route to a convincing 80-63 victory over Delphos Jefferson.
With the win, Spencerville notches the outright Northwest Conference title with a perfect 8-0 conference mark. The Bearcats are 19-2 overall. Delphos Jefferson slips to 11-11 overall and 5-3 in the NWC.
Spencerville had two players score in double figures.
Josh Henline led the Bearcats and all scorers with 25 points, including three 3-pointers. Henline also was a perfect 6 of 6 shooting from the free throw line. Dylan Smith scored 23 points, including two shots behind the 3-point line. Smith also came away with five rebounds and four assists for Spencerville.
“It feels great,” Spencerville head coach Kevin Sensabaugh said. “Obviously, it (to win the NWC) is not an easy thing to do. Josh (Henline) was here when it wasn’t great. … His freshman year, we weren’t that good. I know it means a lot to him; and it means a lot to all of our seniors, because they’ve kind of went from the bottom to the top. It has been a lot of fun. I’m blessed to be their coach. I like how they share the ball. They play together, and they like each other. That makes it so much more fun.”
Trent Teman led Delphos Jefferson with 22 points and six boards. Karder Agner had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats.
Spencerville jumped out quickly on Delphos Jefferson, scoring the first five points of the contest.
That opening spurt seemed to set the tone as Spencerville pulled out to a commanding 30-18 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Bearcats connected five times behind the 3-point line in the first eight minutes of action. Smith led Spencerville with seven first-quarter points.
The Bearcats kept pushing the tempo.
By the halftime break, Spencerville had extended its lead to 18, 46-28.
Henline led Spencerville and all scorers with 16 first-half points, including two 3-pointers. Henline was a perfect 6 of 6 shooting from the free throw line in the first half.
In the first half, Spencerville was 16 of 30 from the field for 53-percent shooting. The Bearcats connected eight times behind the 3-point line. Delphos Jefferson was 11 of 33 from the floor for 33-percent shooting.
For the game, Spencerville shot 59 percent from the field. Delphos Jefferson connected on 41 percent of its field goal attempts.
At the 2:20 mark of the third, Jefferson cut the deficit to 6, 51-45, on a 3-pointer by Isaac Gallmeier (nine points).
However, Spencerville managed to pull out to a 59-45 lead by the third stop.
“They (Delphos Jefferson) made a run in the third quarter,” Sensabaugh said. “I thought about calling a timeout, but I thought, ‘You know what? … I trust these guys. They will find their way out of it’. And they did. It was fun to watch.”
Said Henline, “My freshman year and sophomore year, it was a little rough. We fought through it. Last year, we didn’t get it (NWC crown). This year we did. So, we’re pumped about that.”
Spencerville turned the ball over just nine times on the night. Delphos Jefferson committed 11 turnovers.
Delphos Jefferson held a slight 34-30 edge on the boards.
Dylan Smith, another senior on the Spencerville team, said this is what his class has been aiming for since its freshman season.
“It’s been a goal – to play for the NWC championship. … It was a great atmosphere,” Smith said. “Half of our lineup has played together since junior high. So, it (the chemistry) has always been there.”
Sensabaugh said he wants his team to really push the pace of the game.
“That was one of the messages that we wrote on the board before the game – ‘We want to outrun their defense’,” Sensabaugh said. “In the first quarter, we really did. We put up 46 by halftime. … That’s the most I can ever remember having at halftime. … That was the plan. I thought our guys did a great job of doing that. It was a good night, offensively. Defensively, it wasn’t our best, but it was a win.”
Mark Altstaetter wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
