COLUMBUS GROVE – Ottoville senior Landon Horstman’s two clutch free throws with .9 seconds Saturday night pushed the #10 Big Green to a 44-42 win over PCL rival Columbus Grove.
Horstman, a 6’4 post pulled down 16 rebounds while also handing out four assists and snagging four steals in addition to scoring 18 points on the night.
“We ran a lot of our offense through Landon in the first half, and he did a great job of scoring quickly before the double teams came,” said Ottoville head coach Keith Utendorf. “Landon did a great job when the opportunity arose of finding his teammates.”
Ottoville (12-6, 2-2) jumped out to an early 12-4 lead lead thanks to triples by Horstman and classmate Alex Leis.
With scoring at a premium for each squad due to Friday night contests against PCL rival Fort Jennings (Ottoville), and #1 ranked Spencerville (Columbus Grove) the two teams scored a combined 38 first half markers.
“We got off to a slow start,” said Columbus Grove (6-7, 2-2) head coach Connor Kohls. “Credit Ottoville for coming ready to play off the jump.”
Columbus Grove continued to chip away at the Big Green’s 10-point halftime advantage in the third by outscoring their counterparts 14-8 in the stanza.
Sophomore standout Brady Basinger, a night removed from a 20-point effort in a win over Spencerville in NWC play went on a tear in the stanza as he connected for eight of his team high 14 and dropped the deficit heading to the fourth to 32-28.
“Obviously Columbus Grove is a tremendously athletic and talented team,” said Utendorf. “We knew we had to change defenses and control the pace.”
While the pressure the Bulldogs put on the Big Green took time to pay off, it finally did for the hosts in the games closing minutes. Sophomore Gage Sautter knocked down consecutive shots from behind the arc in under half a minute to bring the Bulldogs to within one and eventually even at 42-42 after a make from Ottoville junior Ashton Miller with 46.1 to go ran the lead to 42-39.
Horstman’s last second heroics for Ottoville came out of a timeout with time nearly gone as he tossed down both charity tosses to finish 5/5 on the day before helping to intercept a final Grove heave as the horn rang out.
“Credit to our kids for righting back after the loss on Friday night,” said Utendorf. “Our kids are mentally tough competitors and they responded to the adversity of the night before and made enough plays to get the win in the end.”
Columbus Grove returns to action on Saturday at Continental as part of six games in 14 days to finish the regular season while Ottoville next hits the hardwood at Putnam County League leading Kalida on Friday night.
“Credit to our guys for fighting back and tying the game with about 15 seconds left,” said Kohls. “We had a tough break at the end, but that’s definitely not the reason we lost the game. We lost the game in the first half with not playing with our typical energy, effort, and defense.”
Gage Sautter and Trenton Barraza each notched eight for Columbus Grove while Miller followed up for the Big Green with nine on the night.
Scoring:
Ottoville (44):
Ashton Miller 9
Garrett Trentman 2
Alex Leis 8
Brandon Calvelage 6
Landon Horstman 18
Nick Quartana 1
FT: 7/8
3PT: 4 (Leis 2, Horstman, Miller)
TO: 11
Grove (42):
Brady Basinger 14
Trenton Barraza 8
Gavin Barraza 2
Trevon Baxter 5
Landon Best 3
Kyle Hopkins 2
Gage Sautter 8
FT: 7/9
3PT: 3 (Sautter 2, Best)
TO: 11
JV: 40-32 Ottoville