Big Green repels archrivals in father-son coaching duel

By Jim Metcalfe, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Thursday, January 31, 2008 (11 months, 1 week ago)
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DELPHOS — What a way to celebrate — or not to — a 69th birthday.
Tuesday night was Fort Jennings head boys basketball coach John Von Sossan’s 69th birthday.
His son, Tom, just happens to be Ottoville’s head coach and his Big Green held off a Musketeer rally to grab a 52-49 Putnam County League victory at The Fort.
All coaches wore sneakers along with their normal suits and ties as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer event.
“I feel bad for this on dad’s birthday but at the same time, we were looking for a win against anyone. It’s been so long and the coaches told the kids to find a way to get a win,” Tom Von Sossan began.
That they did, unleashing a 3-2 matchup zone in the second period that took on Jerry Tarkanian’s “amoeba” zone he made famous at UNLV.
The elder Von Sossan didn’t focus on his birthday but on his team’s impatience against that zone.
“I expected Tom to play zone but I don’t think even he thought they’d play it so much. We had no patience,” he acknowledged. “They did a nice job of beating our inside up enough to get them out of position and also took away our middle penetration. We didn’t hit much of anything outside: most of our baskets came from the paint.”
The zone was put in in one day.
“We only had one day of practice. Actually, the kids were doing some things on their own and it took on that ‘amoeba’ look,” Tom Von Sossan explained. “We basically wanted to keep our middle man in the paint and let our guards defend the perimeter. I felt we talked and communicated well and got to people. Plus, it helped that they didn’t shoot very well from the outside.”
Jennings (9-7, 2-3 PCL) did can 23-of-44 shots (52.3%) but only 1-of-17 beyond the arc. Troy Warnecke netted 15 (6 boards) and Derek Geise 12 (11 rebounds).
Ottoville (5-11, 2-3) countered with 15-of-39 shooting (4-of-12 downtown) for 38.5 percent — Andrew Koch topped all scorers with 18 (3 treys) and Brad Turnwald added 11 — but 18-of-23 at the line (vs. 2-of-4 for the Musketeers for 50%) for 78.3 percent.
They needed them in the fourth period. In front 39-33 to begin, two Koch singles and a 3-point play by Turnwald put them up 44-33 and forced a timeout. Back came the hosts — using full-court pressure defense — and a 10-0 run spearheaded by five from Warnecke got them within 44-43 with over three minutes left.
The Big Green steadied themselves and forced Jennings to foul starting at 2:33. Ottoville hit six straight freebies to get to a 50-45 edge. Jared Horstman drove for two and Geise hit a putback sandwiched around two missed Ottoville throws to get within 50-49 with 7.7 ticks to go. Koch was fouled at 7.1 ticks and calmly hit both tosses for a 3-point lead. With time running down, sophomore Trevor Von Sossan tried to make a baseline move but slipped; the ball went out of bounds as time expired.
“Whenever you only go to the line four times and the other team 23, you’re not going to win many games. We played all zone the first half, so we shouldn’t have been fouling,” John Von Sossan added. “We struggled to get into a rhythm against that zone. We’re going to have to keep plugging away because we’ll likely see a lot of zone the rest of the way.”
Facing Ottoville’s man-to-man the first period went a bit smoother for the hosts. With Geise dropping in six counters, his turnaround with 8.1 ticks showing put the Orange and Black up 14-13.
Ottoville switched to that 3-2 look in the second and that seemed to catch Jennings off-guard. They forced six miscues (out of 14 overall) and limited the hosts to a mere five shots. With Koch draining two trios in the period (11 markers at the half), a 9-2 spurt gave the Green and Gold a 22-16 margin at the 3:02 mark; they never trailed again. A 3-point play by Von Sossan broke the string but Scott Pohlman’s jumper from the baseline accounted for a 24-19 halftime score.
Twice in the third period, the Musketeers — switching to man-to-man from 2-3 zone — got within one but the Big Green seemed to have the tempo to their liking. Warnecke counted six for the hosts but Turnwald answered that. His transition basket at 24.4 ticks put the guests up 39-33.
“This is definitely not the style of play the Von Sossans used 10 years ago when this rivalry started: it was all man-to-man and up-tempo. We’ve both figured out you have to play the way you need to to win,” Tom Von Sossan, who has a 14-11 mark against his dad, added.
In sum, Ottoville nabbed 23 caroms (10 offensive) and were assessed 10 fouls and six errors. Jacob Landin delivered four assists. They visit Continental Friday (6 p.m. JV tip).
Jennings nabbed 28 off the glass (8 offensive) and added 16 fouls. Aaron Chandler and A.J. Korte dished four assists each. They host Jefferson Saturday (6 p.m. JV tip).
Ottoville’s JV team (8-8) canned 7-of-10 free throws in the fourth period to grab a 39-31 win over the Musketeers (6-9).
Nathan Turnwald tallied 13 for the Big Green; Josh Calvelage answered with nine for the hosts.

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