LEIPSIC – Double digit performances by a trio of shooters Wednesday night pushed visiting Delphos St. Johns past Leipsic in sectional semifinal action 56-44.
St. Johns jumped out to a quick 9-2 advantage in the first quarter behind a pair of baskets by Matthew Kahny and Landen Grothaus that pushed the Vikings back on their heels.
Leipsic’s first basket came with 3:45 remaining in the opening quarter on a shot from senior Jaden Siefker that cut the Jays advantage to 6-2 but would be one of just four baskets in the period that saw the Vikings trail 15-9 at the first stoppage.
Though the Jays had found ways to shut their offense down in the first quarter, Leipsic mounted a run through the opening moments of the second stanza that saw them pull to even with 2:31 remaining in the first half on a stickback by Trey Schroeder of a missed shot that saw him uncovered under the basket.
Mason Brandt and Paul Maag connected on a trio of triples in the first four minutes to cut into the lead but again the duo of Kahny and Grothaus struck for a combined nine to keep the visitors on top of the scoreboard 26-25 heading into the break.
“We have seen glimpses of this from Matthew throughout the year and tonight he impacted the game in several ways. Our players followed his lead and I’m proud of him” St. Johns coach Aaron Elwer remarked on his senior after the contest.
While Leipsic continued to flirt with overtaking the lead in the third quarter with threes an free throws, the Jays turned a trio of three pointers from Grothaus and Nolan Schwinnen into a 38-32 advantage.
“St. Johns is a good defensive team and a team of streaky shooters. Basketball is a game of runs and we couldn’t match their runs at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth” said Leipsic boss Chris Kuhlman on his teams performance.
Early in the final eight minutes St. Johns turned up the defensive effort Kuhlman opined about as they stretched their lead to 10 with 5:30 to go on a triple by Jason Gillespie after the Vikings had cut the lead to 45-39 just moments earlier.
Matthew Kahny provided the biggest spark for his squad’s momentum with 4:10 remaining as he split an attempted Leipsic double team and delivered a thunderous two handed slam dunk for two of his 16 points.
Held to just seven points in the final period the Vikings (15-8) would see their season come to an end with a 56-44 loss. “15 wins isn’t what we wanted to finish at but it is a step forward and our underclassmen must be willing to put in the work to take another step. I’ll really miss our seniors who overcame a lot of adversity but came out on the other side with faith in our staff and improved leadership” Kuhlman stated after the loss while looking back at his teams season.
St. Johns improves to 7-15 and will travel to Convoy to take on a Crestview Knights squad they were originally scheduled to battle during the regular season in late December.
“I am so proud and happy for our players! They play with a lot of positive energy and enthusiasm for the game of basketball. To go on the road and play as well as we did against a quality team like Leipsic shows the character of our guys. It was a great locker room and our players earned the right to play for a sectional title on Friday” said an elated Elwer.
Mason Brandt paced Leipsic with 14 while the Jays were led by Landen Grothaus’ 20 as one of three players in double figures that included Matthew Kahny with 16 and Landon Elwer with 12.
Box Score:
DSJ (56):
Matthew Kahny 16
JJ Bonifas 2
Jason Gillespie 3
Landon Elwer 12
Nolan Schwinnen 3
Landen Grothaus 20
FG: 21/45
3PT: 7/18 (Grothaus 3, Kahny 2, Gillespie, Schwinnen)
FT: 7/10
TO: 6
Leipsic (44):
Mason Brandt 14
Trey Schroeder 2
Jaden Siefker 9
Dillan Niese 1
Paul Maag 10
Lorenzo Walther 6
Kaleb Gillespie 2
FG: 14/39
3PT: 6/18 (Brandt 3, Maag 2, Siefker)
FT: 10/12
TO: 10