TOLEDO — Sometimes it is simply amazing how different a team can look in a matter of days.
Just three days removed from one of its best games of the year, Otsego was out-matched and overpowered by
Delta, resulting in a 68-47 loss Friday night in a Division III sectional final at Whitmer High School.
Delta put the Knights (7-15) in a hole early, out-scoring them 20-6 in the first quarter, which
essentially set the tone for the one-sided contest.
“We talked to our kids going into practice on Wednesday and we said that we had to answer (Delta’s)
physical challenge because they’re just big, physical, strong kids,” Otsego head coach Jim Bostdorff
said. “And I don’t think we did. They did what they wanted to do. They got some offensive rebounds, they
got momentum going their way. Offensively on the other end for us, they just stifled us and we couldn’t
get anything going outside of A.C. (Limes).”
Limes followed his 21-point performance against Lake in the sectional opener with a team-high 17 points
for the Knights, scoring their first 10 in the first half while shooting 5-of-6 from the field.
But fellow sophomores Drake Johnson and Ryan Smoyer, who combined for 38 points in Tuesday’s win, never
found their rhythm as they scored six and two points respectively.
“Ryan actually had some good, clean looks but they just didn’t fall for him tonight,” Bostdorff said.
“And that happens sometimes and you hope somebody else steps up and tonight that didn’t happen.”
In addition to the lack of scoring production for Otsego, rebounding, which Bostdorff had previously said
would have a major impact on the outcome, caused more problems.
The Knights, who had 47 rebounds Tuesday, were unable to match the physicality of Delta as it limited
Otsego to only 17 boards compared to the Panthers’ 26.
While the difference isn’t glaring, it allowed Delta to capitalize on put-back opportunities.
“We thought we’d have a better chance to keep them off glass playing man (defense) but it didn’t really
work out for us,” Bostdorff said.
“That’s something we hang our hat on is hitting the offensive glass,” Panther head coach Cory Sprow said.
“You’ve got to refuse to get checked out. You’ve got to spin, move, do whatever you got to do to get to
the glass because we need those second and third chance opportunities as much as possible.”
After gaining a 40-20 lead at halftime, Delta used a 9-0 run in the middle of the third quarter to
stretch its lead to an unreachable 29 points.
“We feel the most important quarter of the night at all games is the third quarter … we were able to
get some good things going and had some nice passing going on and hitting those open shots,” Sprow said.
The Panthers’ inside-out game, and their ability to move the ball, allowed for them to shoot 50 percent
(25-of-50) from the floor, which included eight buckets from behind the arc.
Delta had four players contribute with nine or more points, and all four of them tallied at least one
triple.
“They have two really good post men and they have two really good shooters in (Josh) Beverly and (Blake)
Green,” Bostdorff said. “When everything is clicking and they get the inside-out stuff and they’re
making shots, they’re a very hard team to defend because they have four kids out there on the floor who
can score.”
Beverly and Green each scored 14 points, and post Drew Salsbury scored a team-high 17 points, while Ryan
Callahan added nine.
Although their season ended with a lopsided loss, the Knights still have plenty of reason to be
optimistic as they will return four sophomores, all of whom (Tommy Rodgers, Smoyer, Johnson, and Limes)
start.
“I don’t care how talented your kids are, it’s hard to be successful when you’re playing as many young
kids as we are,” Bostdorff said. “But we think our program has a very bright outlook. We played a lot of
young kids on the varsity squad who we think are only going to get better.”
DELTA 68, OTSEGO 47
OTSEGO
Rodgers, 1-2-0—8; Smoyer, 1-0—2; Serrato, 0-2—2; Hefflinger, 0-0—0; Nyler, 0-0—0; Austin, 0-2-0—6;
Forshey, 1-0—2; Harter, 1-2—4; Johnson, 1-1-1—6; Limes, 8-1—17. TOTALS: 13-5-6—47.
DELTA
Macionsky, 0-0—0; Betz, 0-0—0; Callahan, 0-2-3—9; Mohr, 1-1-0—5; Prather, 0-1-2—5; Salsbury, 6-1-2—17;
Green, 4-2-0—14; Gralinger, 1-0—2; Beverly, 4-1-3—14; Brown, 0-0—0; Mansour, 0-0—0; Heine, 1-0—2;
Babcock, 0-0—0. TOTALS: 17-8-10—68.
OTSEGO 6 14 11 16 —47
DELTA 20 20 19 9 —68
