Continental’s Brady Thomsen is defended by Pandora-Gilboa’s Nate Maag (34), Aidan Morris (back) and Colin Harris (1) during the Rockets’ 59-19 win over Continental on Thursday night at Pandora-Gilboa High School.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
PANDORA – Pandora-Gilboa added a Putnam County League championship to a shared Blanchard Valley Conference title with a 59-19 boys basketball win over Continental on Thursday night.
It took a few minutes longer than expected in a match-up between a 19-2 team and a 2-18 team, but the Rockets got it done.
Pandora-Gilboa missed its first five shots, had three turnovers and fell behind 4-0 nearly five minutes into the game. But in the rest of the first half, it outscored the Pirates 33-2, leaving no doubt about the outcome of the contest.
This year’s double championship was the third for Pandora-Gilboa. It also won the BVC and PCL in 2022 and 2018.
This season, the Rockets counted winning both leagues among their goals.
“This was our goal. To start out the year, we put our goals up on the board. The BVC and PCL were our goals and we accomplished that. We want to win sectionals and that’s up next,” said senior Aiden Harris, who led Pandora-Gilboa with 26 points and 7 rebounds.
He called the slow start “just a dry streak” and said, “Once we got going and pushed the ball up the court I think that’s when we improved the most.”
Asked if an undisputed and undefeated championship was better than sharing the BVC with Arlington and Liberty-Benton, Harris said, “Of course. I think winning outright is the most fun thing to do. Winning outright is what we want to do.”
Pandora-Gilboa coach Mike Lee said, “Their zone slowed us to a crawl. It took us about four or five minutes to not only figure it out but get something in transition and get us going a little bit and it just kind of snowballed from there.”
He said the Rockets were motivated by a successful but also frustrating season last year.
“We talked about a whole bunch of unfinished business after winning 18 games last year and finishing third in both leagues. That was the mindset, pretty much, going into this season,” Lee said.
“We’ve got great kids, they put in a lot of time in the offseason to get to this level and that (two championships) is the end result,” he said.
Seven senior players were among the seniors honored in a pre-game ceremony. Three of those athletes – Colin Harris, Aiden Harris and Aidan Morris – are four-year letter winners in basketball.
Pandora-Gilboa finished the regular season 20-2, including 7-0 in the Putnam County League and 7-1 in the Blanchard Valley Conference.
Brady Thomsen’s 13 points led Continental (2-19). The Pirates finish their regular season tonight against McComb.
Pandora-Gilboa 59, Continental 19
Score by quarters:
Continental 4 2 8 5 — 19
Pandora-Gilboa 13 20 20 6 — 59
CONTINENTAL
Brady Thomsen 13, Carson Etter 4, Quinn Tegenkamp 2. Totals: 9-1-19
PANDORA-GILBOA
Colin Harris 9, Aiden Harris 26, Aidan Morris 1, Zach Neuenschwander 7, Nate Maag 7, Owen Huffman 1, Camden Verhoff 5, Matthew Benroth 3. Totals: 23-9-59.
Three-point goals: C — None; PG — A. Harris 1, C. Harris 1, Verhoff 1, Benroth 1.
Records: Pandora-Gilboa 20-2; Continental 2-19.
