3/5/2010
Ottoville overcomes turnovers, downs Jefferson in 2OT, 56-50
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| Kirk Dougal/Times Bulletin
Jefferson’s Kennedy Boggs (15) connects on a three-pointer that gave Jefferson a 49-47 lead with 14 seconds remaining in the first overtime during a district tournament game against Ottoville on Thursday, March 4, in Van Wert. Jefferson lost in double overtime, 56-50. |
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BY DREW BITTNER
Times Bulletin Sports Editor
sports@timesbulletin.com
VAN WERT - Ottoville looked far from the team that finished the regular season with a 20-0 record and the top ranking in Ohio's Division IV. And Delphos Jefferson looked like anything but the underdog team they were expected to be in Thursday's district tournament game at Van Wert High School.
Jefferson forced Ottoville into 36 turnovers (unofficial count), and took the Lady Green to the wire before ultimately falling in double overtime, 56-50.
"It was horrible," said Ottoville head coach Dave Kleman of his team's performance in the game. "It would have been a nightmare if we would have lost it. But it was just a bad dream."
In a first quarter that proved to be a complete anamoly, Ottoville jumped out to a big lead in the contest, blitzing Jefferson to a count of 16-3 before the Lady Wildcats' Mallorie Wilson knocked down Jefferson's first field goal of the game at the 1:05 mark. Ottoville took that 16-5 lead into the second quarter, with seven first quarter points by Abby Siefker, and five more by Kari Beining, leading the way.
Jefferson finally found their offense in the second quarter, though, thanks in large part to an increased defensive effort that forced Ottoville into ten turnovers in the second stanza alone.
Morgan Fischbach knocked down a field goal for the Lady Wildcats to open the second, and then Kristin Klausing knocked down a jumper, a three-point field goal, and two free throws to pull Jefferson within two points, 16-14, only a minute and 30 seconds into the second period.
Ottoville recovered, at least offensively, overcoming their rash of turnovers to outscore Jefferson 9-2 over the rest of the second quarter, and taking a 25-16 lead into the halftime break.
To start the third quarter, Jefferson again came out with a hot hand shooting the ball, opening second-half action with a 14-4 run that was capped with a Courtney Lewis trey from way outside, and halfway through the third quarter, the Lady Wildcats had their first lead of the contest at 30-29.
Ottoville immediately erased that lead with a Sami Modica lay-in, and then ended the third quarter on a small 4-2 spurt that gave the Lady Green a 35-32 lead going into the final quarter of action.
Klausing opened the fourth by connecting on a three-point play, tying the game at 35-35, and that sparked a 5-2 run that gave Jefferson a 40-37 lead with just over five minutes left in the game.
Ottoville held Jefferson scoreless for over four minutes from that point on, and despite turning the ball over eight more times in the final stanza, the Lady Green crept back ahead and took a 42-40 lead with 1:35 remaining in the contest.
With just under 40 seconds remaining, however, Jefferson's Jenna Miller connected on a field goal, tying the game at 42-42, and with neither team able to put the ball in the bucket in the remainder of regulation, the contest headed into overtime.
Miller opened the overtime period with a lay-in off a beautiful pass from Klausing, and then Klausing herself followed that up with a steal that she converted into a layup to give Jefferson a 46-42 lead only seconds into overtime.
Beining, however, refused to let her team quit, knocking down a trey on Ottoville's next possession and followed that up with a two-point basket, part of her game-high 23 points, and the Lady Green regained the lead at 47-46 with just under two minutes to play.
Jefferson ran down the clock with their next possession, and after calling two timeouts, the Lady Wildcats finally got off a shot with Kennedy Boggs draining a three-pointer with 14 seconds left and giving Jefferson a 49-47 lead.
Ottoville almost turned the ball over on their final possession, losing control and only getting to keep the ball due to the possession arrow's favor, but lost valuable time, and had only 5.6 seconds to inbound and score.
They only needed two seconds. Tasha Kaufman found an opening right underneath the basket, as Jefferson keyed on Beining and Siefker, and put in the layup with only three seconds remaining to tie the game up, 49-49, and send the contest into a second overtime.
"That was designed," said Kleman. "We were using Abby as a decoy, but we were going to throw it up to her if she was open. We were hoping that if they went for her, we could seal it and get a bucket."
Ottoville carried that momentum into the tip-off of the second overtime, when Siefker tipped the ball to Beining, who had a wide open floor ahead of her for an easy layup to give the Lady Green a quick 51-49 lead.
That would prove to be all that Ottoville would need. Boggs added a free throw for Jefferson at the 1:59 mark, but the Lady Wildcats wouldn't score again, and the Lady Green tacked on five additional points to seal the victory, 56-50.
"We hit some big shots and everybody stepped up," said Kleman. "But [Jefferson] did too. They hit some big shots. In the end, we had some more breaks than they did."
"There were lots of mistakes, but it is all about survival," continued Kleman. "Survive and advance. Survive and advance. I guess if we have to look that bad to do it, we'll take it."
On the other side, Jefferson head coach Dave Hoffman praised the effort of his team, pleased with the tremendous defensive effort in forcing 36 turnovers, while also pointing out how hard his team played all year long.
"That's one of our traits," said Hoffman of his defense. "We have to have our defense be a major part of our offense. With the size advantage they had inside, you saw that Siefker could score inside on us. Our kids just played their hearts out. They have all year. They jumped out on us early tonight, but we battled out of that and came back. We played with a lot of heart. I'm proud of them. I'm very pleased with the effort."
Hoffman also hoped that his team, the only unranked team in the district bracket at Van Wert, also gained recognition in the eyes of area fans, pointing out that his team can be overshadowed by that other Delphos girls basketball team.
"When you exist in the same town as St. John's, that seems to be the thing," Hoffman said of his team's underdog status. "Our kids have played hard, and hopefully, they gained the respect they deserve. We've done that all year. We had to do it with sheer all-out hustle. And I think we showed it tonight."
Jefferson finishes their season with an 18-4 overall record, while Ottoville improves to 22-0 on the year. The Lady Green will next face Kalida in the district finals on Saturday, March 6, at Van Wert High School, with a 7 p.m. tip-off. Kalida defeated St. John's in the district nightcap to advance.
"We just have to calm down with the ball," Kleman pointed out as he touched on the areas that need improvement going forward. "Hopefully, we can adjust from this, calm down, and do a better job next game."
Beining's 23 points led all scorers on the evening, while Siefker added 13 points and nine rebounds for Ottoville. Klausing paced Jefferson with 15 points and Boggs added 12 points for the Lady Cats.
Ottoville unofficially won the rebound battle, 38-16, but lost the turnover margin, 36-9. Jefferson shot an unofficial 28 percent from the field (17-of-60) and 17 percent from behind the arc (4-of-24). Ottoville shot 60 percent from the field (18-of-30) and connected on 43 percent of their three-point field goals (3-of-7).
Score by quarter:
Jefferson 5 11 16 10 7 1 - 50
Ottoville 16 9 10 7 7 7 - 56
Jefferson (50)
Miller 2 5-6 9, Lewis 3 1-2 8, Culp 1 0-0 2, Boggs 4 3-4 12, Klausing 5 3-3 15, Fought 0 0-0 0, Wilson 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 12-15 50.
Ottoville (56)
Koch 0 1-2 1, Beining 7 7-8 23, Ditto 1 3-4 5, Modica 3 1-2 7, Kramer 1 0-0 3, Kaufman 2 0-0 4, Siefker 4 5-9 13. Totals 18 17-25 56.
3-point field goals:
Jefferson 4 (Klausing 2, Boggs, Lewis), Ottoville 3 (Beining 2, Kramer).
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