OTTOVILLE – Three players in double figures led Ottoville Saturday night to a 64-40 non-conference victory over visiting Ada at L.W. Heckman Gymnasium.
Junior Alex Suever scored off of the opening tip for the Big Green to give his team a 2-0 lead but was quickly matched on the opposite end by Spencer Wall who knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to give the Bulldogs their only lead at 3-2.
William Miller and Carter Horstman pumped in fast break baskets to give the hosts a 7-3 advantage but again the purple and gold saw Wall and teammate Jacob Sutherly hit to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:51 remaining in the opening period.
Ottoville leading scorer William Miller took over the rest of the first quarter as he increased the lead on back to back possessions hitting from deep beyond the arc to push the Big Green up 13-7 into an Ada timeout. Miller accounted for two more baskets before the end of quarter buzzer to account for 13 of his teams 17 markers.
While Miller was held to just a single three point goal in the second quarter to up the lead to 23-12 the duo of Carter Horstman and Michael Turnwald shouldered the scoring load for the Big Green by combining to hit a three pointer at 4:00 and a total of 10 of the teams 15 points in the quarter.
Ada’s lone three pointer of the first half came with under a minute remaining when junior Ethan Murphy ended a nearly three minute drought without a basket to cut the lead to 30-19 for the Bulldogs.
“Michael Turnwald and Carter Horstman did a great job of finding gaps and passing angles and allowing Will to attack those gaps off the dribble as well” said Ottoville boss Keith Utendorf of his teams first half performance.
Senior Carter Schnipke added to the Big Green lead with a pair of shots from deep in the third as part of a 14 point second half performance that helped the hosts head to the fourth with a 43-30 lead.
With the absence of Spencer Wall due to injury, Jaden Leal took over the ballhandling and scoring duties for the Bulldogs and found himself able to lead the offense in the second half both in scoring and facilitating as he set up classmate Jacob Sutherly for a pair of baskets in the final period.
Ottoville’s two Carters, Schnipke and Horstman took over the fourth for the green and gold. Horstman connected for five points while Schnipke again connected for a pair of quarter threes to round out the 24 point victory for the Big Green.
“Carter Schnipke has been comfortable and confident over the past 2-3 weeks and has shot well as he showed tonight. Carter Horstman was much more confident himself and decisive in the second half as he finished inside very well. He does so much for us defensively and his energy and extra efforts offensively are critical for our success” said Utendorf.
Defensively Ottoville forced 23 Ada turnovers on the night which promoted Utendorf to say “Defensively in the second half we were much more active and created quick a few turnovers which ignited us”.
Ada (4-14) has now dropped 10 games in a row by a combined 181 points and will head to Leipsic next Friday evening for Northwest Conference play. Jaden Leal led the Bulldogs with nine markers.
Next up for the Big Green (11-7), winners of three straight is a Friday night road Putnam County League battle in Continental. William Miller led three in double figures with 23 and was joined by Carter Horstman (15), and Carter Schnipke (14).
Scoring:
Ottoville (64):
William Miller 23
William Horstman 3
Carter Schnipke 14
Alex Suever 4
Carter Horstman 15
Michael Turnwald 5
FT: 6/13
3PT: 8 (Schnipke 4, W. Miller 3, Horstman)
TO: 11
Ada (40):
Cayden Murphy 8
Jacob Sutherly 7
Carter Conley 2
Jaden Leal 9
Spencer Wall 5
Grant Preston 4
Ethan Murphy 5
FT: 5/9
3PT: 3 (Sutherly, Wall, E. Murphy)
TO: 23
JV: Ottoville 47-10