MILLER CITY – Ottoville jumped out to a big first quarter lead in Friday night’s Putnam County League battle at Miller City and raced away to a 60-35 victory.
Kyle Manns opened the scoring for the Big Green in the first minute of the contest with a basket off the glass and opened an Ottoville run that would run to 6-0 before the host Wildcats got on the scoreboard with their only marker of the first period on a Joe Deitering basket with 3:56 to go.
Utilizing their length and frantic defensive tempo the Big Green pushed out to a 21-2 lead at the first buzzer thanks to baskets and free throws from point guard William Miller, Ryan Suever, Grant Kortokrax, Manns, and a deep three by senior Josh Thorbahn.
“I was really proud of our guys for getting out to that early start and understanding what Miller City was in with that box and one zone. After a few possessions we really did a good job of attacking some of the vulnerable spots in their defense” opined Ottoville coach Keith Utendorf after the game.
Unfortunately for Miller City the second quarter saw the same five players continue to run the Big Green advantage deeper into double figures led by three point goals from Miller and Thorbahn that opened up a 24-4 lead.
Three point goals for the host squad from Ross Niese and Thomas Weis put up a fight for the Wildcats but it was the opening period basket by senior Jon Burgei that snapped a nearly five minute streak with no baskets early on.
At the half Ottoville found themselves in charge of the scoreboard 38-13 and with balanced scoring led by Miller with 10 and followed by three different players with eight apiece.
In the third quarter the Wildcats found the bottom of the net with shots they couldn’t get to fall in the opening two quarters and outscored the Big Green 11-10 thanks again to three point goals from Niese and Weis to get themselves within 48-24.
Despite being outrebounded on the night 32-17, Miller City hung with their foes in the final eight minutes on the scoreboard on baskets by Ross Niese, Austin Ruhe, and freshman Owen Tobe who added four off the bench in the closing moments.
Having sent most of their starting lineup to the bench, Ottoville turned to subs Kellen Schlagbaum, Cole Furley, and eventually Cooper Hanneman for scores in the final period to salt away their 60-35 victory.
During the closing minutes of the game senior starter Kyle Manns finished off his 10 points on the evening and joined three other players in double figures with his only make of the second half.
“I was really happy for Kyle to have the game he had tonight. We talked all year about him providing that for us as a group when teams try to guard us differently and he came out and played a really good aggressive basketball game tonight” cooed Utendorf on the play of his 6’2 senior forward.
Miller City falls to 0-5 at home this season and 3-10 overall, the Wildcats are 1-3 in Putnam County League games. Saturday night the blue and gold will welcome Temple Christian to J. Harry Leopold Gymnasium in a non-league tilt.
Ross Niese led the Wildcats in scoring with 11 while William Miller paced the Big Green (10-2, 3-0) with 15 points in the game.
Next up for Ottoville is a Saturday evening battle with Midwest Athletic Conference stalwart St. Henry that can be heard at 7:30 P.M. on WZOQ Radio.
“I’m really proud of Grant Kortokrax’s energy off the bench and our entire group for how we came out and set the tone. We did a really good job on Niese and Ruhe who are both special players with really good skill sets” said Utendorf on his teams performance in defeating their rivals for the fourth straight meeting.
Scoring:
Ottoville (60):
William Miller 15
Kyle Manns 10
Ryan Suever 10
Grant Kortokrax 4
Kellen Schlagbaum 2
Josh Thorbahn 14
Cole Furley 2
Cooper Hanneman 3
FG: 23/56
3PT: 6/17 (Thorbahn 3, Miller, Hanneman)
FT: 11/18
REB: 32 (Manns 9)
TO: 6
Miller City (35):
Ross Niese 11
Thomas Weis 6
Austin Ruhe 5
Owen Tobe 4
Joe Deitering 2
Jon Burgei 7
FG: 14/39
3PT: 5/11 (Niese 3, Weis 2)
FT: 2/8
REB: 17
TO: 16
JV: Ottoville 38-18