Kalida’s Jaden Smith attempts to pass against Ottoville’s Kellen Schlagbaum (center) and Alex Suever during a Tuesday Division IV district semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse. See more high school basketball photos at LimaScores.com.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
ELIDA – In the regular season matchup, Kalida slipped past Ottoville in an overtime thriller, 47-45.
That win by Kalida notched the Putnam County League title.
However, in Tuesday’s rematch – a boys Division IV district semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse – No. 3 seed Ottoville slipped by No. 2 seed Kalida for a hard-fought 38-34 victory.
With the win, Ottoville (19-5) will take on No. 1 seed Crestview (21-3) Friday in a district final at the Elida Fieldhouse with tip-off set for 6 p.m.
In Tuesday’s nightcap at the Elida Fieldhouse, Crestview defeated No. 5 seed Delphos St. John’s, 53-42.
“What a great game between two really, really great teams,” Ottoville head coach Keith Utendorf said. “We’re even on points (total between the two games played), but we’ll play (at least) one more game. … I guess we’ll give up the league (title) for that.”
Alex Suever led Ottoville with 11 points on Tuesday. Kellen Schlagbaum had eight points, six rebounds and four steals for the Big Green.
Jaden Smith led Kalida (19-5) and all scorers with 17 points. Smith also came away with 10 boards. Drew Fersch had six points and seven steals for the Wildcats.
It was back-and-forth action the first eight minutes.
After five lead changes, the score was knotted, 10-10, at the end of the first quarter.
Kalida was 5 of 10 shooting from the field, while Ottoville was 4 of 9 from the floor in the first eight minutes.
Kalida picked it up, to begin the second quarter.
The Wildcats opened the second on a 6-0 run to pull out to a 16-10 advantage.
However, Ottoville responded with a 13-5 run to claim a 23-21 lead by the halftime break.
For the half, Ottoville was 8 of 24 from the field for 33-percent shooting. Kalida was 9 of 15 from the floor for 60 percent.
In the first half, Kalida turned the ball over 12 times, including eight times in the second quarter. The Big Green turned the ball over just five times in the first 16 minutes of action.
Smith led Kalida and all scorers in the first half with 11 points, along with six rebounds.
Suever and Keaton Schnipke (seven points, four boards) had seven first-half points for Ottoville.
Ottoville slipped out with a 30-27 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Schlagbaum hit a 3-pointer moments before the quarter ended to give the Big Green the 3-point advantage.
Ottoville held off Kalida down the stretch for the win.
The largest lead for Ottoville in the fourth quarter was seven points.
“What a great job by our guys,” Utendorf said. “It wasn’t always pretty the last four minutes. We talked about executing. We weren’t trying to stall, we just wanted to make sure that we got the right opportunity.”
For the game, Ottoville shot 32 percent from the field. Kalida connected on 38 percent of its field goal attempts.
Both teams turned it over 15 times.
Ottoville held a slight 25-24 edge on the boards.
“Tonight, it really wasn’t about our defense. We just didn’t have it tonight, and that’s on me,” Kalida head coach Ryan Stechschulte said. “The ball didn’t go through the hoop for us tonight. And we turned it over a lot more than we normally do.”
Added Utendorf, “We talked about (getting) 50-50 balls and loose balls. In the last four minutes, I thought we did a pretty good job of doing that.
“I thought our defense really anchored in, especially after those first couple minutes of the second quarter. Credit to our guys. That’s a good old fashion PCL matchup. It inevitably always goes down to the wire. It was a lot of fun.”
Crestview 53,
Delphos St. John’s 42
In the regular season matchup, St. John’s defeated Crestview 48-43.
Tuesday night, Crestview was not going to be denied.
The Knights got the early lead, and then pulled away in the final eight minutes for the victory.
No. 1 seed Crestview jumped out to a 12-5 lead by the end of the first quarter.
By the halftime break, St. John’s cut the deficit to 4, 22-18.
Crestview shot 50 percent in the first half. St. John’s countered with 38-percent shooting.
The Knights pulled out to a 28-18 lead, less than two minutes into the third, on a 3-pointer by Mitch Temple.
By the end the third quarter, Crestview’s lead was cut to 3, 30-27.
However, the Knights pulled away down the stretch for the win.
For the game, Crestview shot 50 percent from the floor. St. John’s shot 30 percent.
Nate Lichtle (13), Carson Hunter (13) and Mitch Temple (12) all scored in double figures for the Knights.
Freshman Cameron Elwer led St. John’s and all scorers with 25 points, including three 3-pointers.
Mark Altstaetter wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
