OTTOVILLE – Behind ten players in the scoring column and three in double figures the Ottoville Big Green rolled past Route 66 rival Delphos Jefferson in a non-league contest Monday evening 75-36.
The Big Green entered the evening ranked #8 in the first Ohio Associated Press poll of the season jumped out to an early first quarter lead and never looked back on their way to their fifth straight victory over the visiting Wildcats.
“Overall I’m pretty pleased with the effort tonight up and down the roster” said Ottoville coach Keith Utendorf.
Following a pair of turnovers on each side to open the game, Ottoville senior Josh Thorbahn opened up the scoring for the hosts as he connected on a volleyball line three pointer at 6:13 to key the start of a 6-0 run between he and junior point guard William Miller.
Trailing 8-0 with 4:58 remaining in the opening period the Wildcats pushed across their first and only score of the stanza to cut into the lead on a make by Ian Wannemacher but were unable to stop the onslaught by their opponent and fell behind 17-2 at the buzzer.
Ottoville continued their to up their lead in the opening moments of the second stanza on a 5-0 run on free throws by Thorbahn and a wide open basket by Grant Kortokrax that forced Jefferson to take a timeout to regroup.
Wannemacher, a 2nd team Northwest Conference pick a season ago started a run of points for the Wildcats out of the timeout as he cut the lead to 22-4 with 5:17 remaining in the half and helped his team to 14 more markers that included a pair of triples from Trent Teaman, and Levi Rode, and a jumper just in front of the buzzer by Andrew Miller that sent the game into the halftime stoppage at 32-18 in favor of Ottoville.
One game removed from nine three point goals as a team the Big Green utilized the long ball to perfection in the third quarter as Josh Thorbahn and Trae Schlagbaum each scored twice from deep to run the host advantage to 55-29. Utilizing their ability to go deep into their bench, Ottoville added scores from six players in the quarter.
“We had a lot of guys hit shots tonight and contribute on the glass. I’m happy to have some of our role players have some success and see the ball go through the hoop. We need them to continue to gain confidence because their efforts will be needed for us to continue to improve throughout the year” said Utendorf on his team utilizing 12 players in the game.
Similarly to the last score of the second quarter for his opponent, William Miller scored on a pull up jumper with :02 remaining in the third to put the Big Green ahead 57-31.
Though Jefferson finished the evening at just 13/41 from the field, the Wildcats were able to have some success from deep in the third quarter from the hands of senior Logan Gallmeier who connected on back to back possessions from behind the arc for a pair of threes.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats the two makes would represent two of just six makes in the second half from the field. Ian Wannemacher provided the only make from the field in the fourth quarter on his way to a team high 13 points for the Wildcats who were held to five points in the last nine minutes of play.
Three point goals by subs Trae Schlagbaum, Cole Furley, and a pair by senior Cooper Hanneman punctuated the final 18 point quarter for Ottoville on their way to finishing off a 75-36 victory.
Utendorf opined on his teams effort “We are still a work in progress at times at both ends of the floor and incorporating all of our guys cohesively together and within their roles. I’m proud of our guys. We need to continue to get better and prepare for a young, capable and talented Pandora Gilboa team in league play.”
Ottoville was led by Josh Thorbahn with 18 points while teammates William Miller (12), and Trae Schlagbaum (11) joined him in scoring double figures. Next up for the Big Green (8-2) are the aforementioned Rockets on Saturday night in a game that can be heard live at 7:30 P.M. on Zsports3
Delphos Jefferson (2-5) travels to Ada on Friday night for a Northwest Conference showdown before returning home on Saturday evening to battle Wayne Trace in a non-league affair.
Box Score:
Ottoville (75):
William Miller 12
Trae Schlagbaum 11
Kyle Manns 6
Ryan Suever 7
Grant Kortokrax 6
Kellen Schlagbaum 2
Josh Thorbahn 17
Cole Furley 3
Cooper Hanneman 6
Jack Langhals 4
FG: 27/56
3PT: 10/24 (Thorbahn 3, T. Schlagbaum 3, Hanneman 2, Furley, Miller)
FT: 11/15
TO: 11
Jefferson (36):
Colin Bailey 1
Trent Teman 5
Ian Wannemacher 13
Andrew Miller 2
Caden Carter 2
Logan Gallmeier 8
Levi Rode 5
FG: 13/41
3PT: 4/10
FT: 6/15
TO: 16
JV: Ottoville 42-11