OTTOVILLE – Wednesday night’s non-conference matchup between Ottoville and Minster looked like an early run away for the Big Green but saw the Big Green hold off a Wildcat three point barrage for a 69-45 victory.
Minster’s first of nine eventual three point goals thrust the Wildcats into an early 3-1 lead with 5:52 on a make by Cole McClurg. Unfortunately for the visitors their advantage would be short lived thanks to Ottoville senior Kellen Schlagbaum whose personal 5-0 run on back to back connections pushed the Big Green into a 4-3 lead they would never relinquish.
Held scoreless for the next three minutes and the final 2:16 of the period between triples by Kole Richard and Dillon Watercutter the Wildcats found themselves trailing 16-9 at the end of the first thanks to a pair of three pointers by Alex Suever and a four point effort from Carter Horstman.
Ottoville opened the second quarter of their final home game in 2022 with a snow white flourish of baskets behind Schlagbaum who paced his squad with eight in the period while helping to set up shots from beyond the arc by teammates Grant Leis and Michael Turnwald to run the lead to 31-13 with 4:53 remaining in the half.
Missing leading scorer Brogan Stephey for the season with a hip injury, the Wildcats turned to sophomore classmates Kole Richard and Ian Homan for points to find themselves within 38-24 at the next stoppage as Richard canned two of his four from deep in the period.
Three point goals and free throws punctuated each teams third stanza scoresheet as they combined to make just five from inside the arc while amassing a 29 point eight minutes of play.
For their part the Big Green turned to the duo of Alex Suever and Carter Horstman to run their lead to 47-27 with 3:45 to go before triples from Watercutter and McClurg helped cut the lead and send the contest to the fourth with Ottoville in front 55-36.
Schlagbaum finished his game high 19 points for Ottoville early in the fourth by connecting on the final of the eight Big Green triples before taking in the rest of the contest from the bench.
“We thought Kellen had a great game managing and running the show for us but give credit to Minster too, they hit shots all throughout the game” said Big Green boss Keith Utendorf.
Minster’s final three point goal opened the scoring for the Wildcats in the fourth quarter as McClurg hoisted a shot just in front of the volleyball line over Schlagbaum that banked off the glass and in to bring the contest within 55-39 on the opening possession of the period.
Kole Richard led the Wildcats (2-7) in scoring with 16 and was joined in double figures by Ian Homan who chipped in 10. Minster will attempt to finish off their 2022 calendar and end a 3-game skid on Friday night as they travel to Lima to battle the Perry Commodores in a non-conference affair.
Ottoville (8-2) gets back on the winning track after dropping a two point game to Van Wert last week and will travel to Convoy on Friday night for their own non-league tilt with the NWC’s Crestview Knights to close out the year.
The Big Green’s Alex Suever (15), Carter Horstman (13), and Michael Turnwald (10) joined Schlagbaum in double figures.
“Overall our guys play their tails off every night. We challenged them at halftime to execute some situational and fundamental issues better and like all year they responded well. Our kids did a great job overall defending the post and paint. Grant Leis, Keaton Schnipke, and Landon Horstman did great jobs inside with help from others” finished Utendorf on his teams performance.
Scoring:
Ottoville (69):
Grant Leis 7
Landon Horstman 2
Kellen Schlagbaum 19
Alex Suever 15
Carter Horstman 13
Michael Turnwald 10
Keaton Schnipke 3
FT: 13/21
3PT: 8 (Suever 3, Schlagbaum 2, Leis, Turnwald, Schnipke)
TO: 7
Minster (45):
Ian Homan 10
Kole Richard 16
Dillon Watercutter 6
Cole McClurg 9
Noah Schwieterman 2
Cole Albers 2
FT: 4/8
3PT: 9 (Richard 4, McClurg 3, Watercutter 2)
TO: 29
JV: Ottoville 51-29