Bob Seggerson
The Lima News
Next Sunday will mark the 40th anniversary of one of the most improbable and memorable basketball games ever played in Putman County League history. On February 18, 1984, Columbus Grove visited Ottoville in a much-anticipated matchup that required a record, mind-boggling eight overtimes before the outcome was decided.
The game didn’t need any hype. Both teams were undefeated in league play, and the league championship was on the line. Only standing room was available in the sold-out Ottoville gymnasium. For the first time, the local cable vision decided to televise the game on closed circuit TV and those fans who couldn’t pry their way into the gym packed the local bars and establishments to get a live look at the action.
John Diller, who scored 11 points that night for Grove, remembers that as the game stretched into overtime, fans who had been watching it on TV or listening on the radio decided to crash the gate to get a glimpse of the spectacle. “More and more fans started squeezing into the gym and even the doors to the gym and the hallways were packed with late arrivals who just wanted to be a part of it,” he remembers.
From start to finish, the game took 54 minutes of playing time, nearly the equivalent of playing two back-to-back games. Dave Kemper, who scored 16 points for Ottoville, recalled the heat produced by the over-flow crowd. “I just remember how hot it got in there that night,” he says. “Both teams were very athletic and physical. They had to mop the moisture and humidity off the floor a lot because it got so slippery.” Kemper believes the heat also impacted their shooting. “In the overtimes, both teams missed a lot of key free throws and so the lead never seemed to be more than one or two points, which meant there was incredible pressure on every shot taken,” he added.
The game was tied 53-53 at the end of regulation. Try to imagine the amount of drama produced in a game with eight overtimes. There were numerous opportunities to win the game with last-second heroics that night. Ottoville’s coach, Steve Penhorwood, recalled “Both teams could and should have won that game about five different times. It’s a shame either team had to lose that night.”
As the game wore on, foul trouble and fatigue began to play a role. Three of the overtimes (first, sixth, and seventh) were scoreless and Kemper recalls that several times, the team that got the tip (there was no possession arrow in that era) held the ball as a strategy to keep their players in the game and give them a chance to catch their breath. “Both teams had key players in foul trouble, so they didn’t apply much pressure to the stall. I know I just sat back and was happy to get a little breather,” he said.
The game heated up in the eighth overtime and when Columbus Grove’s Todd Hoffman scored a layup with 11 seconds remaining on the clock, it proved to be the game-winner. Ottoville got a good shot off at the four-second mark, but it rimmed out. Grove added a free throw to make the final score 74-71. The fact that the win ended a 32-year drought for Columbus Grove, which last won the PCL title in 1952, only added to the drama.
Columbus Grove’s Eric Fortman was the only player in the game who played all 54 minutes that night. “I lost ten pounds in that game, and I did not have ten pounds to lose,” he remembers. “When it was over, I was thrilled but exhausted.”
Eric gained some national attention when, in the USA Today story about the game, he was erroneously identified as having scored the winning points. (It was Todd Hoffman)
Columbus Grove’s head coach, Jerry Stechschulte, complimented Ottoville and their head coach after the game. “Because our fans rushed the court, we were not able to shake hands after the game. But coach Penhorwood brought his team over to our locker room to congratulate us. It was a classy move,” he said. It was not Penhorwood’s last encounter with the overtime bug. A few years later, while coaching Celina, his team played six overtimes against Marion Local.
Jeff Basinger, who led all scorers that night with 21 points, remembers that the fire trucks escorted the Bulldogs back into town after the game that night, and the team success that season helped rejuvenate a sense of pride and passion in their community. “It had been a long time since we had won here and our fans really got behind us and they are still there,” he said.
Ottoville turned the table a few weeks later and beat Columbus Grove in a district tournament game at Elida Fieldhouse.
If there is a theme to the long-term impact the game had on both communities, it would be friendship. Every team member I interviewed for this column spoke of how they have become good friends with the players they competed with and against that night. It’s an excellent reminder of one of the most valuable rewards of competition.
