Wildcats, Rockets oust Delphos teams

By Jim Metcalfe, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Thursday, March 12, 2009 (11 months ago)
Print

ELIDA — The Union Bank Court in the Elida Fieldhouse wasn’t very kind to the two Delphos high school boys basketball teams Tuesday night.
In the opener of the Division IV district semifinals, Kalida got off to a quick start and rode solid free-throw shooting in the final period to oust polar-shooting St. John’s 52-36.
In the nightcap, Pandora-Gilboa used a 32-11 advantage in the middle two periods to eliminate Jefferson 53-38.
That sets up a Putnam County League rematch between the Wildcats (19-4) and Rockets (19-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the district title.
The victory left venerable Kalida coach Dick Kortokrax very emotional.
“Six times as coach at Kalida, St. John’s has knocked my teams out of the tournament. This is an emotional win for me and my players,” he explained. “My players understood that and they played a tremendous game. We lost here last year with essentially the same team and these guys were determined to win.”
In the first game, a 3-ball by senior Justin Kahle (14 markers, 5 assists, 3 steals) just 20 ticks into the game gave the Maroon and White the lead for good. The Blue Jays (17-5) never got going versus Kalida’s defense, shooting a miserable 10-of-43 from the field (6-of-24 downtown) for 23.3 percent. When senior Ryan Kleman laid in a layup off a Kahle feed with 3 ticks on the clock, Kalida led 13-8.
“We didn’t play our best basketball and Kalida had a lot to do with that. They defended us well from the start and we never got going,” Jays coach Aaron Elwer said. “They applied a lot of ball pressure and did a solid job on our cutters. Once you fall behind a team this good, they do a great job of taking care of the ball and running their offense.”
Kalida did indeed take extremely good care of the ball — like a gold nugget found in a mine — not having a turnover for the first 25 minutes of the contest and only having three (vs. 9 for the Blue and Gold).
Their defense — and foul trouble throughout the night — stymied St. John’s leading scorer Cameron Hermiller (14.2 points per), holding him to nine.
With junior Jordan Basinger (13 counters, 6 boards) setting the pace in the second period — seven points (11 at the half) — the Wildcats steadily built their advantage. Junior Nate Webb’s (10 rebounds) triple at 4:41 was the last points the Jays scored the first half. Kalida netted the last six, including 1-of-3 freebies by Basinger with 5/10 of a tick left, for a 25-13 edge.
The Jays looked to rally in the third stanza and a trifecta by senior Eric Buettner at 4:04 got them within 29-22. Once again, Kalida had the reply with their patient offense: a 6-0 spurt behind senior Preston Ellerbrock’s four; to lead 35-22. A single by junior Scott Recker (15 markers, 9 caroms) with 1:38 showing reduced that to 35-23.
Forced to foul in the fourth period — with Kalida looking to run its offense and take time off the clock — the Jays tried to lengthen the game. With the Wildcats seemingly hitting 1-of-2 free throws every time, the Jays crept within 44-36 on a triple by Recker with 2:40 left. However, shots simply were not going to fall for them this night and the Wildcats finished it off with 8-of-10 free-throw shooting (24-of-34 for the night for 70.6%) in the last 2:00 — 17-of-25 the fourth period.
“We had to take our chances by putting them at the line. We knew they were too good of ballhandlers; they weren’t going to turn the ball over,” Elwer noted. “Basinger hurt us a lot the first half. They did a nice job of throwing the ball over the top of our dead-front. We adjusted the second half with more help.”
Kalida finished 13-of-31 from the field (2-of-7 triples) for 41.9 percent. They assumed 26 boards (9 offensive) as senior Scott Schnipke added seven and amassed 14 fouls.
“The kids played great defense. One, we didn’t give them a lot of open looks — especially with the way they run their offense — and two, we didn’t give them many offensive rebounds, especially the first half,” Kortokrax added. “It started with defense tonight. We told the kids that if we took care of the defense first, the offense would take care of itself. As expected, it came down to free throws in the fourth period. We beat a quality program that I have a lot of respect for.”
St. John’s shot a mediocre 10-of-19 from the line (52.6%). They nabbed 31 off the glass (17 offensive) and totaled 26 fouls.
“You never want a season to end like this so quickly. I’m very proud of the kids; we had 17 wins and they have a lot to be proud of,” Elwer added.
In the nightcap, the Jeffcats (15-8) had the start they wanted against the Rockets. With junior Craig Carder (14 points) dropping in seven points in the opener, they built up a 14-8 advantage on a turnaround jumper by senior Matt Antalis (4 rebounds) with 2 ticks on the board.
It continued into the second stanza. Three throws by junior Jordan Jettinghoff (9 points, 3 assists) and a Carder 3-ball at the 5:53 mark put the ’Cats up 20-8. The Rockets then fired up. A Thomas Hochstettler (4 assists) basket at 5:33 got it started and Carder went to the bench with his second foul at 4:30. After Tyler Gratz (15 counters, 4 caroms) hit a 3-point play at 4:11, Sam Maag (19 markers, 4 assists, 4 rebounds) ran off 12 straight points (with 3 treys) — with a putback by Jefferson senior Mike Rahrig standing in the way — and Gratz laid in a lob with 5 ticks on the clock for a 27-22 P-G lead.
“We did some different things early that caught Pandora off-guard. As a good coach does, coach (Joe) Braidic made the adjustments and took that away from us,” Jefferson coach Marc Smith began. “Maag is a gamer; he’s a phenomenal player. We knew what we were facing coming in. Gratz is a tremendous player inside. We’re known for being a physical team and they beat us at our own game.”
According to Braidic, the Rockets just did what they’ve done all year.,
“We’re a notoriously slow-starting team. We come out a bit lackadaisical and then at some point, kick it in,” he acknowledged. “Sam hit a couple of big shots that really got us going; that seemed to happen every game. I put in Tyler Swary, our only other senior, and he provided a steadying influence. That settled us down.”
The Rockets continued their upward trend in period 3, especially with their defense leading the way. Carder’s trey at 6:53 was Jefferson’s only points in the span. Meanwhile, six markers from Joshua Lee (13 markers, 5 caroms, 5 assists) led the Rockets; his drive at 2:40 accounted for a 40-25 spread.
Carder and senior Matt Antalis (4 boards) both picked up their fourth fouls in the last two minutes of the canto.
The Jeffcats kept at it in the fourth, trying to get to the free-throw line and score with the clock stopped. They got there 15 times but only made six (9-of-17 for the game for 52.9%). The closest they could get was 10 — 46-36 — on 1-of-2 throws by senior Matt Gerdeman (10 rebounds) with 2:23 left. Maag drove the lane for a deuce at 2:05 and P-G ran it out.
“Pandora is an outstanding basketball team,” Smith continued. “They are known for their physical man-to-man defense and they showed it tonight. We didn’t get too many free looks tonight.”
The Rockets ended up a warm 20-of-37 from the field (4-of-10 triples) for 54.1 percent and 9-of-19 singles (47.4%). They attracted 20 boards (4 offensive) and ended up with 17 fouls and eight miscues.
“Jefferson’s a pretty strong team. We neutralized their strength inside,” Braidic added. “Once we figured out we didn’t have to double down on them in the post, we defended their perimeter shooters better.”
Jefferson dropped in 12-of-31 shots (5-of-13 bombs) for 38.7 percent and 9-of-17 charity throws (52.9%). They nabbed 28 off the glass (8 offensive) and totaled 19 errors and 22 fouls. Sophomore Ryan Ebbeskotte dished three assists.
“We had to beat two teams with 16 wins to get here and then played Pandora with 19 wins. We’ve come a long way,” an emotional Smith, finishing his fourth season, added. “In the previous 55 years, this was our second-most wins; in the 87 years of the program, it was the third-most. My six seniors have really built something; we’ve gone from a laughingstock to playing high-caliber, competitive basketball. With a 15-5 JV team and the freshmen playing for the NWC title this year, we’re not a flash in the pan. We’ll be around.”