By Matt M. Stutz

The Pandora-Gilboa High School boys basketball tournament run will continue on to the District Finals. The #2 seed Rockets pulled out an exciting, hard fought 53-48 rematch win over #3 seed Ottoville (17-7) in the Division IV District semi-finals Tuesday, March 5 at the Elida Fieldhouse.

The two teams met up back in January for a Putnam County League contest where P-G won convincingly 63-40.  

Even though the Rockets (22-2) led the entire game from tipoff to the final buzzer, this one was anything but settled until the very end.  

The Rockets had the early advantage up eight after one quarter of play 18-10.  They stretched the lead to twelve at one point in the second period before the Big Green trimmed it back again to eight as P-G led 33-25 at the halftime break.  

P-G came out fast in the third quarter. The Harris twins quickly scored the first five points on an Aiden 3-pointer and a Colin layup to give P-G their biggest lead of the night at thirteen, 38-25.  This forced Ottoville into a time out with around 6 minutes left in the third. At that point Ottoville showed up, going on a 20-8 run, spanning the 3rd and 4th quarters, to get within one point at 46-45 with 3:08 remaining in the game.  Tensions now high and both fan bases loud, it was tournament basketball at its finest. The Rockets would force a couple turnovers and ice the game away at the free throw line knocking down five free shots, as Ottoville would get no closer.

Aiden Harris battled through first half foul trouble to lead the Rockets with a team high 21 points, canning three trifectas, and nailing down the final two free throws in crunch time.  Owen Huffman had big game, coming off the bench to tally 8 points, including a late free throw. Aidan Morris finished his night with 7 points also knocking in three huge fourth quarter free throws. Colin Harris added 6 points while Zach Neuenschwander banked in a second quarter 3-pointer on his way to 5 points. Nate Maag also battled foul trouble, but before he did, he hit a first quarter 3-pointer from the corner for his 3 points. Nate Walker hit two free throws in the first half for his 2 points.

SCOREBOARD

Next up, the Rockets will play in the District Finals at the Elida Fieldhouse on Friday, March 8 against the #1 seed Delphos St. John’s (22-2).  This is the rematch game many had penciled in since the two teams met back in January, a non-conference battle that was won by the Jays 57-48.  That was the last time the Rockets experienced a loss this season.