ST. MARYS – Ottawa Glandorf head coach Tyson McGlaughlin etched his name in the record books on Friday night with his 250th career victory as his Titans remained unbeaten with a 43-32 victory over St. Marys.
McGlaughlin who began his coaching career with a 30-17 record in two years at Miller City High School now sports a record of 220-45 at his alma mater where he is in the 11th season.
A rowdy crowd witnessed a fast and furious first quarter between the two blue and gold squads who traded the lead multiple times before first stoppage.
6’10 junior Austin Parks started the scoring for the host Roughriders on the first possession of the contest and added a second basket just moments later to regain the advantage at 6-5. Parks who leads St. Marys in every offensive category doled out a pair of assists to teammates Brayden Sullivan and Gavin Reineke late in the stanza as the duo combined for back to back triples and a 13-7 lead with 1:36 left.
Landen Jordan, Eli Schmenk, and Colin White teamed up to give Ottawa Glandorf a 7-0 run over the final minute and a half that ensured it would be the visiting blue and gold leading at the end of one 14-13. Steals by Schmenk and White both resulted in highlight reel slam dunks for the Titans.
Forced to make the most of their offensive possessions in the second quarter against a rotating 2-3 and 3-2 zone defense the Titans were held to just a trio of makes while their opponent amassed a 24-20 halftime advantage. Austin Parks tied the score at 14-14 with a free throw early in the sequence and helped again to lead teammates to buckets as back to back late three point goals from Kyle Steininger found their way through the bottom of the net.
Similarly to the plight of Ottawa Glandorf in the second period, both teams defense slowed the others offensive output to a crawl in the third stanza.
St. Marys jumped out to a 29-27 advantage with 2:20 remaining but again watched as the Titans solved their rubik’s cube defensive output with baskets by White, Carter Schimmoeller, and a buzzer beating triple from Caden Erford to send the game 32-29 OG into the final eight minutes.
Erford, a 6’4 sophomore had attempted just eight shots on the season and entered the evening 0-1 from behind the arc before he subbed in late and knocked down a corner jumper for OG.
Just a single basket from the field and a free throw by Parks is all the Roughriders would amass over the final period as the Titans defense turned the tables and raced ahead to a double digit advantage on a five point run by senior Eli Schmenk that forced head coach Dan Hegemier to take a timeout trailing 39-29.
Top ranked Ottawa Glandorf (8-0, 3-0) has downed St. Marys for the eighth straight time and will next be in action on Saturday evening when they travel to Findlay for a non-league tilt. Colin White paced the Titans with 16 points and 7 rebounds.
St. Marys (5-5, 1-2) has dropped four straight games after a 5-1 start and will host Dublin Jerome Saturday night as part of the first annual Roughrider Hall of Fame night starting at 6:00 P.M. Austin Parks led the Riders in scoring with 9 points.
Scoring:
OG (43):
Carson Fuka 4
Carter Schimmoeller 8
Eli Schmenk 7
Landen Jordan 3
Caden Erford 3
Colin White 16
Theo Maag 2
FT: 4/5
3PT: 5 (Schimmoeller 2, Schmenk, Jordan, Erford)
TO: 9
St. Marys (32):
Kyle Steininger 6
Brayden Sullivan 5
Gavin Reineke 3
Jace Turner 4
Evan Angstman 3
Ryan Meier 2
Austin Parks 9
FT: 4/9
3PT: 2 (Sullivan, Reineke)
TO: 12
JV: OG 49-24