DELPHOS – Delphos St. John’s was forced to go small but came up big against Lima Central Catholic to post a 70-59 victory in the annual “holy war” Sunday.
Delphos St. John’s improves 5-3 overall. LCC falls to 2-8 for the year.
“Our `little guys came through,” said Aaron Elwer with a smile who had to go to a smaller lineup after the Blue Jays big man, Tim Kreeger found himself in foul trouble in the second half.” We came away with a big win and that is the sign of an experienced team getting better and we are gaining confidence and learning to win.”
It was the Thunderbirds who appeared poised to take command of the game after going up 41-40, with 1:34 left in the third period and Kreeger, saddled with four fouls, riding pine.
But the Blue Jays, led by senior Owen Rode, were the ones who took control of the game. In the final minute of the third period, Rode hit a running layup to give the Blue Jays the one-point lead and then after a traveling call on LCC, Robby Saine swished a 3-pointer to give Delphos a 45-41 lead going into the final period.
With the smaller lineup in, Delphos’ quickness om both offense and defense proved to be difference in the final eight minutes as the Blue Jays went on a 10-4 run to open up a 55-45 lead with 4:40 left in the game and the Thunderbirds never recovered.
Delphos’ quickness was most evident on offense as the Blue Jays’ continually penetrated LCC’s interior defense and either got the layup or were fouled. In the fourth quarter, 15 of St. John’s 25 points came from the free throw line.
On defense, the more experienced Blue Jays forced the young Thunderbird into key turnovers to prevent them from answering with a scoring run of their own.
“When we were up 41-40, I thought it was our opportunity,” LCC head coach Frank Kill said. “But their five players stepped up and we showed our inexperience. We had several mental breakdowns. We were just looking to hold on. We were not playing to win. We were playing not to lose and you can’t do that against a team like Delphos.”
Early in the game, it was LCC’s big man, Mark Janowski, who had to sit with foul trouble and Kreeger shined early with eight points in the first quarter. However credit, LCC’s small lineup for smothering Kreeger in the second period, limiting him to four points, and allowing the Thunderbirds’ to not let Delphos establish a big lead. Kreeger, who finished with 16 points, scored four in the second period.
But Rode, who would end up with a game-high 23 points, provided the offense to fill the void left by the absence of Kreeger as he scored seven second quarter points as the two teams battled back and forth in the first two quarters.
However, Rode, like most in the game, was not immune to the referee’s whistle and found himself on the bench in foul trouble at the onset of the third quarter.
Saine provided the scoring for Delphos with two clutch 3-pointers early in the third period, to keep the Blue Jays’ offense rolling. In the fourth quarter, Jared Wurst and Connor Hulihan also had key treys.
“We were force to change our game plan because of the fouls and our players responded,” Elwer said. “Rode forced the issue and he does that for us. Connor hit a big three and Ronny had big shots. We have the capabilities.”
Elwer added that the officiating dictated his team’s action of going to the basket and Rode took advantage of it.
As Elwer sees his team turning the corner on the season, Kill finds his team making the same mental mistakes that prevents them from garnering victories.
“Defensively, we just got beat,” Kill said. “We lost focus on our fundamentals and we have to get better at that.”
As has bee the case most of the season, Thomas Williams, who grabbed eight rebounds, was the T-Birds main scorer. The senior forward scored 21 points but was limited to two in the final period. Biggs Johnson, a freshman who played point guard for LCC, continues to grow and scored 15 points. Janowski chipped in 12 points.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
