Miller City’s Andon Ruhe (middle) cuts past Columbus Grove defenders Zach Reynolds, left, and Kylan Mayes, right, during Saturday’s game at Miller City.
MILLER CITY — Miller City used a big third-quarter outburst from Andon Ruhe to top Columbus Grove, 49-40, on Saturday night.
Ruhe scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the third stanza, helping the Wildcats (16-4, 5-2 Putnam County League) turn a two-point halftime lead into as many as eight points. Ruhe made his six offensive rebounds count in the game, scoring four of his points off them and getting other good shots.
“My teammates were shooting shots that bounced off the rim,” said the 6-foot-4 senior forward. “I can get to those rebounds and put them back up. If they defended me when I was open, I was able to get off some passes. I’m just glad they trusted me in my ability to score.”
Ruhe finished with a game-high 10 rebounds. The Wildcats out-rebounded Columbus Grove 32-18, including 12-6 on the offensive end.
Columbus Grove never got closer than four points the rest of the way, after a 3-pointer by Landon Best with 1:15 remaining to make it 44-40 after a full-court trap press proved particularly effective.
“We had to get some turnovers, play fast and take some quick shots,” Columbus Grove coach Connor Kohls said. “It worked. We got a couple of loose balls that they threw out of bounds for us. It gave us a couple more possessions.”
The Wildcats regrouped, hitting 5 of 6 free throws the rest of the way and wrapping up the victory with 6-foot-4 junior Jude Otto’s second dunk of the game in the final seconds.
Miller City’s Otto had 10 points, as did teammate Ethan Barlage, who hit three free throws in that closing stretch. Overall, the Wildcats hit 19 of 25 free throws.
Bo Birnesser led the Bulldogs (12-9, 3-4 PCL) with 13 points, including a fourth-quarter 3-pointer. Birnesser and Zach Reynolds each had a team-high five rebounds.
Despite the win, the Wildcats fell out of the race for the PCL championship. Pandora-Gilboa claimed at least a share of the title with a 64-46 win against Fort Jennings. Ottoville, which topped Leipsic 79-55 on Saturday, could share the title if the Rockets lost to Continental on Thursday.
The Wildcats celebrated their senior night with a tip-off nod to Silas Niese, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in practice on Monday, Miller City coach Ross Kaufman said. The teams agreed to Grove wouldn’t contest Ruhe on the tip-off. Ruhe tipped the ball to Niese so the senior forward could officially start and play in his final home game.
Ruhe had been the second-leader scorer for Miller City this year and had been good at rebounds and steals.
“It was kind of rough on the guys. It was a nice send-off for senior night, to kind of get the basketball a little bit,” Kaufman said. “He didn’t want to score a layup or anything, so we just kind of did the jump ball to get it back to him.”
After getting the ball to Niese, the officials called a turnover, and Niese hobbled back to the bench and embraced his coaches and teammates.
The emotional moment, along with having five seniors starting who hadn’t played together much, led to Grove jumping out to a 6-0 lead three minutes into the game before the Wildcats returned to their regular lineup, minus Niese, and found some momentum in a 14-4 run over the first and second quarters.
They found their footing after that, hitting 42% of their shots, compared to Columbus Grove’s 31%.
“We were coming into this game, and people were telling us, ‘Hey, you can’t beat these good teams without your best player,’” Ruhe said. “But we proved them all wrong, and I’m glad we did that.”
Miller City 49, Columbus Grove 40
Columbus Grove 6 8 15 11 — 40
Miller City 4 12 20 13 — 49
COLUMBUS GROVE
Bo Birnesser 13, Zach Reynolds 4, Trenton Barraza 8, Kylan Mayes 4, Landon Best 3, Kyle Hopkins 6, Keegan Bame 2. Totals: 13-10-40.
MILLER CITY
Brendan Barlage 8, Ethan Barlage 10, Brayden Niese 2, Jude Otto 10, Andon Ruhe 19. Totals: 15-19-49.
3-pointers: CG-4 (Birnesser, Mayes, Best, Hopkins); MC-0.
Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.
