OTTOVILLE – After surrendering the opening basket on Saturday afternoon the Ottoville Big Green rattled off a 15-3 run in the first quarter and held off visiting Lincolnview for a 54-42 victory at L.W. Heckman Gymnasium.
Following a Lincolnview basket from sophomore Annie Renner, the Big Green duo of Nicole Knippen and Shayla German stamped their mark on the contests opening eight minutes as the duo combined for eight of their teams points in a three minute span to help build the home team advantage.
In the second quarter German and Knippen continued to push the score off of Lancer turnovers and rush them into points on the scoreboard on a five point run by German and Knippen individually that culminated in the latter connecting on an and-one opportunity with 1:40 before the half to run the lead to 26-12.
Trailing 28-16 in the opening minutes of the third quarter, Lincolnview junior Zadria King made the most of her opportunities with the basketball as she accounted for five of her team high 11 points with a low post spin and shot off the glass as well as the lone three point goal for the Lancers in the half.
Having turned up their defensive pressure the Lancers forced Ottoville into a handful of turnovers and were able to get back within a ten point deficit as four other players notched scores. Utilizing their own pressure however the Big Green were able to break free for a trio of shots from behind the arc from German and Elise Kramer, a sophomore who buried triples on back to back possessions to help extend the lead.
Freshman Isabelle Furley connected on one of her two charity tosses late in the quarter and earned her first career varsity point that sent the Big Green into the stoppage with a 42-29 advantage.
Junior Kendall Bollenbacher, an Honorable Mention NWC selection a season ago accounted for six Lancer points in the final period of play on her way to a 10 point afternoon but found her scores equaled by Ottoville senior Tori Thomas who paced the period scoring with a personal six point run that included a made three pointer.
Lincolnview (1-1) will next be in action at Paulding on Thursday, December 3rd while Ottoville (1-0) hosts Putnam County League rival Fort Jennings on Tuesday evening for their next contest.
With the win the Big Green have now defeated Lincolnview 30 straight times dating back to the year 2000 and hold an overall 40-3 mark against the Lancers.
“It was amazing to be on the court for the first time this season! We did a lot of things on the offensive and defensive ends well today, but we also have elements of the game we will continue to work on as the season progresses” Ottoville second year head coach Michelle Leach remarked after the game.
Scoring by quarter:
OV: 15-13-14-12
LV: 5-11-13-13
Box Score:
Ottoville (54)
Tori Thomas 6
Alexa Honigford 8
Isabelle Furley 1
Peyton Wannemacher 2
Elise Kramer 8
Nicole Knippen 15
Shayla German 12
Faith Gamble 2
FG: 21/54
3PT: 5/20 (Kramer 2, S. German 2, Thomas)
FT: 7/13
REB: 19 (Thomas 5)
TO: 12
Lincolnview (42):
Makayla Jackman 5
Annie Renner 4
Sami Sellers 5
Kendall Bollenbacher 10
Carysen Looser 7
Zadria King 11
FG: 18/37
3PT: 2/8 (Jackman, King)
FT: 4/8
REB: 26 (King 11)
TO: 27