Cameron Elwer of Delphos St. John’s shoots against Spencerville’s Evan Osting during Saturday’s game at Spencerville High School. Elwer scored his 1,000th career point and he’s only a sophomore.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
SPENCERVILLE – Cameron Elwer picked a great time to have a historic night.
Elwer scored 41 points to lead Delphos St. John’s to a 65-60 win over Spencerville on Saturday night and went over 1,000 points in his career in only his 41st high school game.
The 6-foot, 1-inch sophomore guard scored 28 of the Blue Jays’ 34 points in the second half, including a bucket which put them ahead to stay at 61-60 with 1:03 left in the game.
“It was a heck of a game. I told Coach Sensabaugh that was two really good teams playing a high level of basketball with a lot of skill, a lot of experience, a lot of will to win,” St. John’s coach Aaron Elwer said. “The packed crowd that was here saw a great high school basketball game.”
Elwer crossed the 1,000-point mark with a 3-point bucket in the fourth quarter. He said he never thought about reaching that milestone when he began his high school career last season.
“I just wanted to have a successful high school career and see what came my way,” he said. “It’s a great accomplishment. I (want to) thank all my coaches, my parents, and the players.”
Overtime decides PCL rivalry
FORT JENNINGS — The rematch of the backyard rivalry between the Ottoville Big Green and the Fort Jennings Musketeers took place on Friday night at Fort Jennings. In December the Big Green handled their Putnam County League foe 70-58.
However, this time 32 minutes would not be enough to settle the affair as the teams went into overtime before the Big Green pulled away with a 62-57 victory.
Keaton Schnipke led Ottoville with 19 points including a key three-pointer with 2:01 to go in regulation, tying the game at 55, and eventually sending the contest into the extra frame.
“They’re getting better and better as the year goes on and they’ve had some circumstances that are unfortunate for them, but their kids are playing their tails off and they gave us everything that we wanted tonight,” Ottoville coach Keith Utendorf said of Fort Jennings. “Obviously I’m going to credit our kids for coming out and making some tough stops at the end. It was going to be a game of runs and it was always going to be a highly emotional game.”
Jarron Swick led the way for the Musketeers with 18 points.
The lead changed hands three times in the final stanza, but Schnipke went on to hit key shots in the final two minutes, including the aforementioned triple that sent the game to an extra four minutes. Micahel Turnwald gave Ottoville the lead for good on a pair of free throws with just over a minute left in the extra period.
Sensabaugh sets career-high
SPENCERVILLE — Spencerville needed a spark on Friday night.
After a shaky opening sequence put his team in an early hole, Kevin Sensabaugh called a timeout to press the reset button.
The Bearcats (11-3) responded by shifting the momentum with an 18-2 run and played downhill for the rest of the game in a 64-46 win over Columbus Grove (7-6).
“I just didn’t feel like we were very locked in defensively in the first quarter,” Spencerville coach Kevin Sensabaugh said. “We weren’t talking to each other very well and we weren’t reacting quickly. I talked to them about our effort. That’s something I should never have to coach them on. If you want to play at championship level that can’t happen. I thought our guys responded pretty well after that.”
Spencerville’s much-needed spark mainly came from Owen Sensabaugh, who set a new career-high of 27 points, topping his 23-point outing against Minster back on Dec. 22.
Sensabaugh went six of seven in the second half and scored 14 points in the third quarter alone.
“I knew their guards couldn’t guard any of our guards, so it was easy for us to go around them, attack the gaps, and finish around the rim,” Owen Sensabaugh said. “I felt like I needed to give us a spark to get us going, then we figured it out on defense and it all came together.”
Bo Birnesser paced the Bulldogs in scoring with 11 points.
Indians bounce back
SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — Shawnee left no doubt that it had put a bad loss to Lima Senior behind them when it rolled to a 69-57 win over St. Marys on Friday night.
The Indians led for all but the first four minutes of Friday night’s game to remain the only team other than Ottawa-Glandorf that’s unbeaten in Western Buckeye League games.
Beckett Bertke scored 26 points to lead Shawnee (10-5, 5-0 WBL). Trevick Bertke had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Evan Angstmann’s 22 points led St. Marys (9-5, 3-2 WBL). Jace Turner and Noah Payne each scored 13 points.
“The strength of our team tonight was (that) they did it together. Everybody who played got an assist, and everybody who played got a rebound. We got some key stops,” Shawnee coach Mark Triplett said.
“We went through a stretch in the first half where Beck’s on the bench with two fouls, Dom (Lynch) is on the bench with two fouls, Alex (Goldsberry) is on the bench with two fouls and guys came off the bench and were ready to play. We didn’t have a drop-off,” he said.
Lynch (9 points), Tate Bender (8 points), and Nick Pasion (7 points) came within one field goal or a 3-pointer of double figures for Shawnee.
“From start to finish I thought our kids did a good job of executing what we felt like we needed to do to win the game,” Triplett said.
Second half surge
LIMA — Lima Senior hit six 3-pointers in the first six minutes against Shawnee on Tuesday night but the turning point of the Spartans’ 77-56 win was when their inside game began operating at near-peak efficiency in the second half.
Lima Senior (7-6) turned a five-point halftime lead into a 17-point advantage after three quarters and added to its lead in the final quarter.
“We made some early threes. When that happens our kids want to continue to shoot threes. But percentages don’t allow you to keep making those threes. So we came in at halftime and said, ‘We’re a good shooting team but let’s drive the ball, let’s get the ball to the high percentage areas, and let’s try to get to the foul line,” Simpson said. “I thought we did a better job of that in the second half.”
Junior guard Isaiah Wilson, who led Lima Senior with 18 points, said, “In the second half we came out with more energy. We started playing faster and sped them up and that led to turnovers and we were able to push the ball and get to the rim more. In the first half, we were forcing too many threes. Q sat us down and told us we had to get to the rim more and that’s what we did.”
Jagger Hutchins scored 16 points, Shawn Foster had 16 points and Jaeveon Walton scored 13 points for Lima Senior.
Beckett Bertke led Shawnee (9-5) with 19 points and Nick Pasion scored 13 points.
Big scorers
Several area boys basketball players topped the 15-point plateau in recent games:
• Colin White of Ottawa-Glandorf scored 17 points and broke the Putnam County scoring record, along with the Ottawa-Glandorf career scoring record against Van Wert on Friday night. Both records were previously held by former Titan Tim Pollitz. On Saturday, he tallied 27 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists and hit a buzzer-beating three with 0.9 seconds left, leading Ottawa-Glandorf past Berlin Hiland.
• Cameron Elwer had 33 points, including a perfect 17 of 17 from the free throw line in a win over Parkway. He also scored 25 points and hit a shot at the buzzer to give Delphos St. John’s a last-second win over Versailles.
• Wilson Garmatter recorded a game-high 25 points in Cory-Rawson’s win over Elgin. He added 15 points in a win over Perry.
• Jaxon Foster scored 24 points, leading Bath to their first win of the season.
• Cash Schadl nailed eight triples and finished with 24 points, leading Wapakoneta to a 28-point victory over Kenton.
• Nolyn Wright paced Temple Christian with 21 points in a loss to Upper Scioto Valley.
• Malachi Menke of Temple Christian turned in a stat line of 21 points, three rebounds, and three assists in a win over Vanlue.
• Landon DeWitt of Waynesfield-Goshen scored 20 points in a loss to Minster.
• Jagger Hutchins had a team-high 20 points for Lima Senior in a win over Rogers, giving the Spartans a share of the league title.
• Carson Clum of Allen East scored a game-high 20 points in a win over Hardin Northern. He added 15 points in a win over Leipsic.
• Wade Ginther scored 20 points against Lincolnview to keep Bluffton unbeaten in NWC play.
• Preston Stumpp of Cory-Rawson tallied a game-high 20 points in a win over Perry.
• Levi Glick of Waynesfield-Goshen had 18 points in a loss to Minster. He also scored 17 points in a four-point win over Elgin.
• Marcus Hill of Perry had 18 points in a loss to Cory-Rawson.
• Andrue Kindle of Upper Scioto Valley led the way with 18 points in a win over Temple Christian.
• Maddox Underwood paced Upper Scioto Valley with 17 points in a win over Arcadia.
• Jarron Swick of Fort Jennings had 17 points in a winning effort against New Knoxville.
• Shawn Foster of Lima Senior scored 16 points in a win over Rogers.
• Mason Thompson tallied 16 points for Upper Scioto Valley in a win over Temple Christian.
• Grady Toumazos of Ottawa-Glandorf contributed 15 points in a win over Berlin Hiland.
BOYS BASKETBALL STANDINGS
Western Buckeye League
`WBL`All
Ottawa-Glandorf`5-0`14-2
Shawnee`5-0`10-5
Celina`4-1`9-6
Elida`3-2`10-4
St. Marys`3-2`10-5
Wapakoneta`2-3`7-8
Defiance`2-3`6-10
Kenton`1-4`8-7
Van Wert`0-5`3-14
Bath`0-5`1-12
Midwest Athletic Conference
`MAC`All
St. John’s`5-0`14-2
Coldwater`5-0`12-3
St. Henry`6-1`12-3
Parkway`2-2`10-5
Minster`2-2`9-6
Marion Local`2-2`6-8
Versailles`2-3`7-8
New Bremen`1-4`5-10
New Knoxville`0-5`3-12
Fort Recovery`0-6`4-11
Northwest Conference
`NWC`All
Bluffton`5-0`14-1
Spencerville`4-0`11-4
Allen East`3-1`8-6
Crestview`3-2`11-6
Leipsic`2-3`7-9
Columbus Grove`2-3`7-6
Delphos Jefferson`1-3`4-10
Lincolnview`0-4`4-11
Ada`0-4`3-12
Northwest Central Conference
`NWCC`All
Upper Scioto Valley`4-0`9-5
Ridgemont`4-1`10-5
Cory-Rawson`4-1`6-8
Perry`3-2`5-9
Waynesfield-Goshen`2-2`4-8
Hardin Northern`2-3`3-12
Elgin`2-4`3-11
Ridgedale`1-3`7-7
Temple Christian`1-4`7-8
North Baltimore`0-3`5-8
Putnam County League
`PCL`All
Pandora – Gilboa`4-0`13-2
Ottoville`3-1`12-4
Miller City`2-2`10-4
Columbus Grove`2-2`7-7
Kalida`2-2`3-12
Leipsic`2-3`7-9
Fort Jennings`1-3`6-10
Continental`0-3`2-13
Toledo City Athletic League
`TCAL`All
Lima Senior`4-1`8-6
Scott`5-2`9-5
Start`4-2`7-7
Bowsher`3-3`5-13
Rogers`3-4`7-10
Woodward`1-5`3-12
RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Friday
Ottawa-Glandorf 73, Van Wert 44
Lima Senior 74, Rogers 53
Spencerville 64,Columbus Grove 46
Shawnee 69, St. Marys 57
Ottoville 62, Fort Jennings 57
Delphos St. John’s 49, Versailles 47
Allen East 63, Leipsic 48
Celina 64, Bath 47
Bluffton 75, Lincolnview 59
Crestview 52, Delphos Jefferson 37
Elida 56, Defiance 47
Pandora-Gilboa 58, Elmwood, 33
Cory-Rawson 52, Perry 35
Upper Scioto Valley 67, Temple Christian 34
Wapakoneta 56, Kenton 28
Waynesfield-Goshen 61, Elgin 57
Saturday
Ottawa-Glandorf 59, Berlin Hiland 56
Liberty-Benton 59, Columbus Grove 45
Allen East 67, Hardin Northern 36
Miller City 52, Wayne Trace 45
Fort Jennings 52, New Knoxville 34
Temple Christian 54, Vanlue 37
Minster 82, Waynesfield-Goshen 49
Kenton 69, Van Buren 68
Kalida 57, Leipsic 48
St. Henry 57, Wapakonta 40
Delphos Jefferson 48, Ayersville 41
Upper Scioto Valley 64, Benjamin Logan 41
Continental 36, North Central 29
Celina 59, Crestview 56
St. Marys 63, Indian Lake 59
Coldwater 49, Van Wert 34
Jackson Center 58, Marion Local 55
Parkway 47, Lincolnview 32
Antwerp 61, Patrick Henry 41
Fairview 60, Bryan 59
Paulding 61, Montpelier 47
Bluffton 67, McComb 44
Russia 61, Versailles 32
Tuesday
Games ended after The Lima News deadline. Find scores, game stories, photos and more on LimaScores.com.
Perry at Bath, 7:30 p.m.
Wapakoneta at LCC, 7:30 p.m.
Mansfield Senior at Lima Senior, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Delphos St. John’s at Minster 7 p.m.
Liberty-Benton at Pandora-Gilboa 7:15 p.m.
Crestview at Ada, 7:30 p.m.
Lincolnview at Allen East, 7:30 p.m.
Defiance at Bath, 7:30 p.m.
Spencerville at Bluffton, 7:30 p.m.
Leipsic at Delphos Jefferson, 7:30 p.m.
Wapakoneta at Elida, 7:30 p.m.
Miller City at Fort Jennings, 7:30 p.m.
Kalida at Ottoville, 7:30 p.m.
Celina at Ottawa-Glandorf. 7:30 p.m.
Waynesfield-Goshen at Perry, 7:30 p.m.
Shawnee at Van Wert, 7:30 p.m.
Temple Christian at Hardin Northern, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Lincolnview at Delphos St. John’s, 3 p.m.
Bath at Bryan, 4:30 p.m.
New Knoxville at Spencerville, 6 p.m.
Ada at North Baltimore, 6 p.m.
Pandora-Gilboa at Bluffton, 6:30 p.m.
Continental at Columbus Grove, 6:30 p.m.
Miller City at Riverdale, 7 p.m.
Kenton at Allen East, 7:30 p.m.
Delphos Jefferson at Waynesfield-Goshen, 7:30 p.m.
Fort Jennings at Holgate, 7:30 p.m.
Kalida at Wayne Trace, 7:30 p.m.
Ottoville at Paulding, 7:30 p.m.
Ada at North Baltimore, 8 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Monday
Bath 52, LCC 15
Pandora-Gilboa 57, Cardinal Stritch 37
Tuesday
Games ended after The Lima News deadline. Find scores, game stories, photos and more on LimaScores.com
Kalida at Spencerville, 6:30 p.m.
Elida at Ottoville, 7 p.m.
Waynesfield-Goshen at Arlington, 7 p.m.
Ada at Upper Scioto Valley, 7:30 p.m.
McComb at Columbus Grove, 7:30 p.m.
Delphos St. John’s at Lincolnview, 7:30 p.m.
Fort Jennings at Ayersville, 7:30 p.m.
Miller City at Fairview, 7:30 p.m.
Shawnee at Crestview, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Rogers at Lima Senior, 7 p.m.
Thursday
St. John’s at Minster, 7 p.m.
Ada at Crestview, 7:30 p.m.
Allen East at Lincolnview, 7:30 p.m.
Bath at Defiance, 7:30 p.m.
Bluffton at Spencerville, 7:30 p.m.
Delphos Jefferson at Leipsic, 7:30 p.m.
Elida at Wapakoneta, 7:30 p.m.
Ottawa-Glandorf at Celina, 7:30 p.m.
Pandora-Gilboa at Liberty-Benton, 7:30 p.m.
Perry at Waynesfield-Goshen, 7:30 p.m.
Van Wert at Shawnee, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Bath at St. Henry, 1 p.m.
Columbus Grove at Arlington, 1 p.m.
Wayne Trace at Miller City, 1 p.m.
Perry at Allen East, 1:30 p.m.
Pandora-Gilboa at Kalida, 1:30 p.m.
Ottoville at Leipsic, 1:30 p.m.
