First Posted: 1/30/2015
SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — It was a start to a basketball game that will make any coach cringe.
It seemed like before Elida’s subs could even find a seat on the bench, Shawnee had jumped out to a 10-0 lead over the Bulldogs in Friday’s Western Buckeye League boys match-up at Lappin Gymnasium.
The Indians came out energized from the opening tip and took control of the game right away.
However, Elida battled back, eventually sending the game to overtime and then to double overtime, before slipping out with a hard-fought 63-58 victory over Shawnee.
After getting down 44-31 by the end of the third quarter, Elida (6-7, 3-2 WBL) roared back in the final eight minutes of regulation to force the first extra session.
Josh Press hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to knot the game at 51. The Bulldogs outscored the Indians 20-7 in the final stanza of regulation.
Elida did not claim its first lead of the game, until a minute into the second overtime, when Austin Allemeier hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, giving his team a 55-54 lead.
The lead changed hands four times in the final three minutes of the second OT before the Bulldogs put it away.
Allemeier led Elida with 18 points, five rebounds and seven assists. He hit two shots behind the arc.
Jazz Howell and Peyton Smith each scored 11 points for Elida. Smith had three 3-pointers. Howell was a force down low, coming away with 10 rebounds and three blocks. Press ended the night with nine points and seven boards for Elida.
Jaden O’Neal led Shawnee (5-11, 2-3) with 16 points and three steals. Teammate JaQuan Tucker scored 15 points, including three shots beyond the arc. Tucker led the Indians with 10 boards. Griffin Hites added 10 points and five rebounds for Shawnee.
“It reminded me of our JV game,” Elida coach Denny Thompson said. “Our JV’s really didn’t show up mentally. I don’t know if it just fed over to what our mentality was to start the (varsity) game. We weren’t mentally ready; and we weren’t very mentally tough for the majority of that game.
“But, I have to give my guys credit. We found some energy and found the effort to get that back to where we had a chance to win. And we were able to do enough good things down the stretch to get the ‘W’.”
After getting out to a 10-0 lead, Elida chipped away and cut the deficit to 11-7 by the end of the first quarter. Elida made just 2-of-13 from the field in the first quarter.
Shawnee went into the break with a 25-16 lead.
In the third quarter, Shawnee limited Elida to just 5-of-9 from the floor and led by 13 by the third stop.
In the fourth quarter, Elida found its rhythm, cutting into the big deficit and forcing overtime.
“On one hand, it’s just a typical WBL game where both teams know each other so well,” Thompson said. “We tried to take their good shooters away early. But, they had guys step up and make shots. We couldn’t go with the defense (zone) that we worked on all week. That’s a credit to them. They made some big shots and we had to come out and play man-to-man. It really took us a little while to get the energy back.”
After a sluggish start, Elida ended the game shooting 40 percent from the field. Shawnee shot 35 percent from the floor.
Thompson looked relieved after the game.
“Friday night — on the road in the WBL — I’m thrilled to get that ‘W’,” he said.
Shawnee coach Mark Triplett was unavailable for comments.
