Div. III Boys Tournament: 3-point barrage lifts Portsmouth past O-G, 74-66 - Friday, March 23, 2012 | Courier Electronic Edition

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Friday, March 23, 2012

Div. III Boys Tournament: 3-point barrage lifts Portsmouth past O-G, 74-66

By DAVE HANNEMAN

Staff Writer

COLUMBUS -- Free throws eventually decided Portsmouth's 74-66 win over Ottawa-Glandorf Thursday night.

But 3-pointers defined it.

Portsmouth bombed in four 3-pointers and had five 3-point possessions during a second-quarter burst that gave the Trojans a 35-21 lead.

That's the cushion Portsmouth needed to withstand an O-G barrage in the final minutes earn a spot in Saturday's 2 p.m. Division III state final. The Trojans (25-2) will face Cincinnati Summit Country Day, which ousted Bedford St. Peter Chanel 49-41 in Thursday's other Division III semifinal.

"I have a mature bunch of kids, a bunch of 18- and 19-year olds who have been through the battles," Portsmouth coach Gene Collins said of his team, which fell in the state semifinals a year ago.

"These kids have a bigger prize in mind. They want to get that gold trophy Saturday."

Following the huge second quarter, it looked like that gold trophy would be Portsmouth's for the taking.

Despite foul trouble by its post players, O-G got two 3-pointers from John Lammers and strong inside play by Michael Rosebrock in opening a 17-16 lead.

But Dion McKinley, Portsmouth 6-foot-6 all-state center, scored to open the second quarter, and the Trojans went 3-crazy.

Zaibe Whitley knocked down the first 3-pointer and, after McKinley put back an offensive rebound, Jayllern Carter drilled two threes and Len Collins drained another. After an O-G miss, Carter scored on a drive to the hoop, was fouled, and completed the 3-point play, capping a 19-4 run and putting Portsmouth up 35-21 with 3:50 left in the half.

Portsmouth entered the game shooting just 28 percent from 3-point range, but connected on 6 of 10 attempts in the first half.

"We felt if we could get the game more up and down and if we made our shots, it would put Ottawa behind the 8-ball," Gene Collins said.

"Me, Jayllren and Zaibe worked on our 3-point shots all week and it showed," said Portsmouth guard Wayne Evans, who had 10 points in the first quarter and seven assists in the first half.

"Last year when we got down here it was like, 'Wow, we're here. Now we want to win state."

"Our goal was to put a lot of pressure on them, limit McKinley's touches and make their other players make shots," said O-G coach Tyson McGlaughlin. "As far as coaching strategy goes that didn't work very well.

"Give Portsmouth credit. They played a great game. It's frustrating, though, because there was that four-an-a-half minute stretch in the second quarter where we were not playing Ottawa-Glandorf basketball and that's unfortunate."

Carter led Portsmouth with 23 points. Evans had an outstanding all-around game with 22 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and two steals. McKinley, saddled with foul trouble at times and sidelined by an ankle injury late in the game, finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.

Portsmouth stretched its lead to 53-33 when Seth Bratchett's basket capped a 7-0 run by the Trojans in the third quarter.

But the O-G team that was lost in the second quarter showed up in the fourth when John Lammers ignited a furious rally.

Two baskets by Noah Bramlage, O-G's 6-6 freshman center, and a 3-pointer by junior guard T.J. Metzger trimmed Portsmouth's lead to 62-49 with 6:23 to play.

Lammers, a 5-8 senior who comes off the bench for O-G, then got hot, hitting two 3-pointers and four free throws in a two-minute stretch. Logan Koch's baseline jumper trimmed what had been a 19-point deficit to 68-61.

Another Koch basket and Metzger's two free throws eventually got O-G (19-7) within five at 71-66 with 27 seconds to play.

After missing 5 of 6 free throws in one 26-second stretch, Portsmouth finally converted 3 of 4 in the final 22.5 seconds to finally lock it down.

"I was just trying to get my team back in the game," Lammers said. "But we fell a bit short."

Lammers was 4 of 8 shooting on 3-pointers and scored 19 points. Metzger added 15 points and Rosebrock 10 points and seven rebounds.

"We knew Portsmouth was a good basketball team. There's a reason they made it Columbus last year," McGlaughlin said.

"Even when we were down 14, 15 points, though, I knew we'd make a run at them. In that fourth quarter, I think they were running on adrenalin and heart. Our guys kept battling and that's all you can ask."

PORTSMOUTH (24-2)

Carter 6-9 8-10 23, Evans 8-13 4-7 22, McKinley 5-12 3-4 13, Whitley 3-6 0-2 7, Collins 1-3 0-2 3, Jordan 1-1 0-0 2, Edwards 1-2 0-0 2, Bratchett 1-1 0-0 2, Viollette 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-47 15-25--74.

OTTAWA-GLANDORF (19-7)

Lammers 5-9 5-6 19, Metzger 4-14 5-6 15, Rosebrock 4-8 2-2 10, Bramlage 4-7 0-2 8, Kaufman 2-5 0-1 5, Koch 2-5 0-0 4, Siefker 1-7 0-0 3, Imm 0-0 2-2 2, Schroeder 0-0 0-0 0, Recker 0-3 0-0 0, Leopold 0-1 0-0 0, Westrick 0-0 0-0 0, Beckman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-60 14-19--66.

Portsmouth 16 25 14 19 -- 74

Ottawa-Glandorf 17 9 14 26 -- 66

3-point goals: Portsmouth 7-13 (Carter 3-3, Evans 2-4, Whitley 1-4, Collins 1-1, McKinley 0-1); Ottawa-Glandorf 8-29 (Lammers 4-8, Metzger 2-9, Siefker 1-6, Kaufman 1-4, Leopold 0-1, Beckman 0-1).

Rebounds: Portsmouth 37 (McKinley 13); Ottawa-Glandorf 33 (Rosebrock 7).

Assists: Portsmouth 12 (Evans 10); Ottawa-Glandorf 8 (Kaufman 3).

Total fouls: Portsmouth 19, Ottawa-Glandorf 21.

Fouled out: Portsmouth, Bratchett.

ATTENDANCE: 11,009.

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