DELPHOS-It was a battle of two good teams in Northwest Ohio as the St. John’s Blue Jays host the Spencerville Bearcats on Saturday afternoon. It was a defensive battle as both teams struggled from the floor but it was the visitors that picked up the 57-45 victory.
“We won that game today with our defense,” said Spencerville head coach Kevin Sensabaugh. “Defense and rebounding made the difference for us and offensively we struggled and I thought we got good looks just didn’t make them.”
The game was played at St. John’s pace as all the momentum was toward the home side in the opening quarter. Freshman sensation Cameron Elwer had the Blue Jays going early as he gave them an early 2-0 lead before a three pointer by Evan Osting gave the visitors a 3-2 advantage.
St. John’s started to feel the crowd toward the end of the quarter as three pointers from Jack Gerker and Aaron Moenter gave them a 14-7 lead before a basket by Owen Sensabaugh to trim the lead to 14-9.
Spencerville was able to change course in the second quarter as the defense proved to be the difference in the quarter. A 7-2 scoring run gave the Bearcats extra push they needed to get over the top. A basket by Blake Sommers cut the lead to 13-11 before a three pointer from Osting gave them a 16-15 edge.
Smith went into takeover mode in the quarter as he tallied eight points in the quarter as the lead grew as big as seven in the quarter. St. John’s tallied just three field goals in the period but the hosts connected on six free throws in the quarter to stay within three.
“He’s a good ball handler and he knows how to handle a ball screen really well,” Sensabaugh said of Smith’s performance. “He really made it difficult for them especially after the first couple of sets offensively and he really was able to go downhill and he did damage in the paint.”
St. John’s was able to keep it close in the third quarter but the turnovers forced by Bearcats led to struggle from the floor. A pair of Dylan Cook free throws made it 31-26 which was a lead that stood for almost three minutes of action.
The lead grew for the visitors as a steal and a layup from Josh Henline made it 33-26 before a basket from Elwer cut it to 33-28. A basket by Smith made it 36-28 before an Ethan Druckmiller basket made it 36-30.
Both teams took advantage of the free throw line in the final quarter but it was the Bearcats who were able to put the game away. Elwer went five of six from the line to keep the hosts in it but Smith’s five of six shots from the line gave them a 57-45 victory.
Spencerville improves to 14-1 on the season and has a key NWC matchup next Friday when they host Bluffton. St. John’s drops to 9-4 and will host Minster on Friday.
“I can’t wait till we get Bluffton next week,” said an ecstatic Sensabaugh. “It’s going to be a fun game and a fun atmosphere and we get to play at home and we have already moved our attention to Bluffton and we are focused on them completely and we can’t wait.”
Spencerville 9 – 20 – 11 – 17 – 57
St. John’s 14 – 12 – 8 – 11 – 45
Spencerville (57)
Dylan Smith (21) Josh Henline (10) Carter Sudhoff (8) Evan Osting (6) Blake Sommers (5) Carder Orr (3) Owen Sensabaugh (2) Dylan Cook (2)
St. John’s (45)
Cameron Elwer (19) Aaron Moenter (7) Jack Gerker (6) Landen Grothaus (5) Nolan Schwiennen (2) Collin Feathers (2) Austin Moenter (2) Ethan Druckmiller (2)
B-rockblythe.org 