LIMA-Two teams with a combined record of 41-5 collided on Wednesday night at Lima Senior high school with a trip to the District Final on the line. The Bearcats rallied in the final quarter to hold off Liberty Benton 44-39.
“I thought they were pretty good defensively,” said Spencerville head coach Kevin Sensabaugh. “They did a really good job of taking us out of our offense and taking us out of what we wanted to do and I thought we missed some open shots and we got some open looks but we just didn’t make them.”
It was Spencerville who got off to a good start in the opening quarter and put the Eagles in a tough spot early. The Bearcats got off to a quick 8-0 scoring run thanks to some offensive rebounding from Carter Sudhoff who also chipped in four points to give the home team the early lead.
The Eagles responded with an 8-2 to end the quarter to close the gap to 10-8. Carson Conaway had five points to lead the visitors in the quarter.
Dylan Smith was able to insert himself into the ball game in the second quarter as the lead continued to stay with the Bearcats. Liberty Benton got within 12-11 on a free throw by Cason Doolittle but a layup by Smith and a three pointer from Owen Sensabaugh stretched the lead to 17-11.
Smith continued to attack the Eagle defense with four points to give Spencerville a 21-14 halftime lead.
Spencerville was a step behind in the third quarter and Liberty Benton took advantage of it. Spencerville stretched their lead to 24-16 on a three pointer from Sensabaugh but the Eagles didn’t back down.
The Eagles drew within 30-27 on an old-fashioned three point play from Seth Elchert. Doolittle scored the next four points to give the visitors a 31-30 advantage.
“It’s great to have senior guards that have been through it,” said Sensabaugh. “Josh didn’t have a great night shooting the ball but when you play against a really good team late in the tournament everyone is going to guard you.”
Spencerville went back to their bread and butter in the final quarter of this instant classic. A layup by Smith regained the lead at 32-31 but a pair of free throws from Lincoln Garlock gave Liberty Benton the lead back at 33-32.
The veteran Bearcats got the lead for good on a basket by Smith and a put back by Carter Sudhoff to lead 36-33. Free throws from Josh Henline made it 40-37 and Carder Orr split a pair to extend the lead to 41-37.
Two points from Doolittle cut it to 41-39 before a free throw from Smith made it 42-39. The Eagles had a chance to tie with a three pointer from Lincoln Garlock but it fell off the iron with little time remaining.
Henline sank a pair of free throws with one second to seal the victory.
The Bearcats improve to 21-2 on the season and will face Ottawa- Glandorf on Saturday at 2pm back at Lima Senior. The Titans defeated Bluffton 63-42 in the other District semifinal.
“I think if we want to slay the dragon on Saturday we are going to have to play a lot better than what we did tonight,” concluded Sensabaugh. “We are going to have to make shots and we are going to have to defend pretty well and I thought we were good defensively tonight but we are going to have to be just as good against Ottawa-Glandorf.”
Liberty Benton 8 – 6 – 17 – 8 – 39
Spencerville 10 – 11 – 9 – 14 – 44
Liberty Benton (39)
Cason Doolittle (20) Carson Conaway (8) Seth Elchert (5) Lincoln Garlock (4) Kameron Garlock (2)
Spencerville (44)
Dylan Smith (16) Josh Henline (8) Owen Sensabaugh (6) Carter Sudhoff (6) Carder Orr (5) Blake Sommers (3)
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