Ottoville’s Keaton Schnipke shoots against Kalida’s Nathan Kahle, left, and Jackson Schroeder during Friday’s game at L.W. Heckman Gymnasium.
OTTOVILLE – Ottoville boys basketball coach Keith Utendorf was looking for contributions from his bench in Friday’s Putnam County League matchup with visiting Kalida.
And he got it.
Nine players broke into the scoring column for Ottoville on Friday night, en route to a convincing 51-27 victory over Kalida at the L.W. Heckman Gymnasium.
With the win, Ottoville improved to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the PCL. Kalida slipped to 3-13 overall and 2-3 in PCL action.
Utendorf not only received plenty of help from his bench at the offensive end on Friday, but his team held Kalida in check at the defensive end.
The Big Green led 16-5 by the end of the first quarter and had a 22-9 advantage by halftime. By the end of the third quarter, Ottoville’s lead ballooned to 24 points, 42-18.
“Everything, obviously, is always going to start with our defense, our pressure, and our collective efforts,” Utendorf said. “I thought our guys were on point, especially early. I thought that late in the first half we started to wear on them a little bit. We got a little bit of a jump and hit a couple of shots. That really got us going early.”
Sophomore Ashton Miller came off the bench and led Ottoville with nine points, including a 3-pointer. Landon Horstman and Michael Turnwald each scored eight points. Horstman had four rebounds, two blocks, two assists, and two steals. Turnwald came away with four boards and two steals. Jace Langhals had six points, six rebounds, and two steals for the Big Green.
“We’ve had that balance throughout the year, and that’s hopefully one of our strengths and will continue to be as we continue to move throughout the season,” Utendorf said. “I thought Michael (Turnwald) played a really nice game at the point. I think Jace’s (Langhals) defensive energy and effort is always something we can rely on. … He (Langhals) is excellent at that.
“We had other guys step up. We try to rotate 8, 9, 10 players. We’re always going to try to rotate as many guys as we can. As we get closer to the tournament, we’re going to need those contributions from guys off the bench. I thought our guys were engaged and ready when they came in.”
Griffin Klausing led Kalida on Friday with seven points, including a 3-pointer.
Kalida really struggled at the offensive end.
In the first half, Kalida was 3 of 19 shooting on its field-goal attempts for 15.8 percent. On the night, the Wildcats shot 27 percent from the field.
Ottoville shot 47.2 percent from the floor.
Kalida committed 13 turnovers, while Ottoville turned it over just nine times on the night.
Ottoville held a slight 25-23 edge on the boards.
Utendorf knew with Kalida being a county rival that his team needed to stay focused on the task at hand.
“I think there’s always emotion, obviously, when you have Ottoville and Kalida. I think the teams were trying to feel each other out a little bit, early. It took us a little bit to get going. But once we got a spurt, I thought our guys really settled in” Utendorf said.
Ottoville 51, Kalida 27
Score by Quarters
Kalida 5 4 9 9 – 27
Ottoville 16 6 20 9 – 51
Kalida
Jackson Schroeder 6, Jacob Siebeneck 3, Parker Vorst 2, Jaxon Hoffman 4, Griffin Klausing 7, Eli Patrick 5. Totals: 10-5-27.
Ottoville
Jace Langhals 6, Garrett Trentman 4, Adam Brinkman 6, Landon Horstman 8, Brandon Calvelage 3, Andy Moorman 4, Michael Turnwald 8, Ashton Miller 9, Keaton Schnipke 3. Totals: 17-11-51.
3-pointers made: Kalida – Griffin Klausing 1, Eli Patrick 1; Ottoville – Garrett Trentman 1, Adam Brinkman 1, Brandon Calvelage 1, Michael Turnwald 1, Ashton Miller 1, Keaton Schnipke 1
Records: Kalida 3-13, 2-3 PCL; Ottoville 13-4, 4-1 PCL
