Ottoville girls get last momentum shift

By Jessica Honigford, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Tuesday, December 18, 2007 (11 months, 1 week ago)
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OTTOVILLE — Before the heavy snow hit the area, a storm of a different kind was going on inside the L.W. Heckman Gymnasium in Ottoville.
Instead of shifting wind, the varsity girls basketball non-league matchup between the Big Green and the Ottawa-Glandorf Titans was a storm of shifting momentum.
The hosts had the final momentum swing in their favor; when the storm died down, they pulled out a 55-52 victory over the Titans.
The victorious Big Green started the game with an 11-point run, including two from beyond the arc, and its defense held the Titans scoreless for more than three minutes. With less than 10 seconds to go in the quarter, sophomore Dana Kaufman (8 points) nailed a 3-point goal, cutting the Big Green’s lead to 21-13 lead.
The pendulum swung in the Titans’ favor in the second quarter, outscoring the Big Green 16-9, cutting Ottoville’s lead to a single point, 30-29.
In the first 90 seconds of the third quarter, the Titans continued to dominate the Big Green. Senior Brittany Kiracofe (15 markers) hit a field goal to start the second half and her teammates hit two more, giving themselves a 5-point lead.
The Titan defense couldn’t keep the Big Green down, though. Senior Brittany Pohlman (13) hit a 3-point goal followed by two from Tricia Honigford (15) pushing Ottoville to a 2-point lead with 4:31 remaining in the quarter. Jill Hohlbein forced a steal in the final seconds of the quarter and passed the ball down to senior Krystal Markward (13) for a layup to push the Big Green to a 3-point lead — 48-45 — going into the final quarter.
Ottoville head coach Dave Kleman was not surprised by the chess-match style of the game: “We knew they were going to make a big run on us but we didn’t fold; we battled back.”
The Titans rallied yet again in the fourth stanza, pulling themselves to a 52-51 lead at the 6:55 mark and forcing Ottoville to take a timeout. The Big Green would have the final say. Kaufman stole the ball from the Titans’ offense, dribbled back down the court and put up a frantic shot, drawing the foul for an “and-1.” She sunk the free throw, giving the Big Green a 2-point advantage.
With 34 seconds left on the clock, Markward drew a foul from Jenna Ellerbrock, sending her to the line for a 1-and-1. Markward missed but Beining pulled down the carom; she passed the ball to Honigford, who drew a foul. Honigford drew yet another foul, giving the Big Green a 3-point lead and the final score.
Ottawa-Glandorf head coach Lori Smith felt that her team had too many mental lapses to pull off the victory in the end: “I thought that that some of the big shots that they hit were mental lapses on our part. I was a little disappointed but this is probably the first big test we had … the kids really grew up today.”
With the loss, the Titans fall to 6-1 on the season, while the Big Green improve to 6-1. For their next game, Ottoville faces Patrick Henry at home at 6 p.m. Thursday.

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