WHITEHOUSE — Despite 21 points from Bowling Green junior guard Jacob Amspoker, the Bobcats dropped a heartbreaking 52-51 contest to Anthony Wayne at the Dick Albaugh Physical Education and Athletic Center Friday.
The Bobcats trailed most of the game, but Amspoker drove to the basket, scored, and he was fouled, tying the game at 51-51 with his old-fashioned three-point play with 36.9 seconds remaining.
However, AW milked the final possession, and fed the ball into the paint to 6-foot-4 junior Grant Kinnee, who was fouled before he could get a shot off with 4.8 seconds remaining, but he got to shoot two free throws because the Generals were in the bonus.
Kinnee hit the second free throw for the eventual game-winner because a corner three by BG senior guard Grant Sonner missed its mark at the buzzer.
After a non-league game that pitted a Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division member (AW) against an NLL Cardinal Division member (BG), both teams move to 4-5 overall.
Amspoker was 8-for-9 from the free throw line and he buried a 25-foot three-pointer with two minutes remaining to keep the Bobcats within one possession, 51-48.
“Amspoker, coach Roth — they are great over there,” AW coach Josh Arthur said. “They work really hard.
“They know they are a little undersized, but they play really hard and they’ve got some shooters. Amspoker is a special player — he hit a really deep three that concerned us.”
Even though AW held the lead most of the game, they never got it to double digits, and usually led by just one or two possessions.
However, in the third quarter the Generals started applying a full court press, using their size and length to force seven turnovers and open a 39-32 lead.
“I thought in the middle and end of the third we did a really good job of imposing our will a little bit,” Arthur said.
Roth added, “I think the bigger guards gave us a little problem. They kind of put (6-2 senior guard Hayden) Bender down by the basket (defensively on in-bounds) and that caused a few issues.
“We had a couple just stupid turnovers in that third quarter that really hurt us. Those possessions you can’t get back. Those are possessions we don’t get shots.”
However, Amspoker and senior guard Ahmir Ruffin both had steals late in the quarter, leading to layups and free throws, and the Bobcats whittled the deficit back to two, 41-39, at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth, BG 6-2 junior forward Tomas Meek fouled out with 3:16 remaining, and that took away any hope the Bobcats had of competing in the paint with the bigger Generals.
“I thought we battled,” Roth said. “Tomas fouling out, that hurt us a lot. He was playing really hard, competing on the glass, and once he went out that kind of changed some things.”
Ruffin had 15 points, five rebounds and three steals, junior forward Karter Shank had eight points and five rebounds, junior guard Ja’ceous Shannon scored seven points, and Sonner and Meek had four rebonds apiece for BG.
The Bobcats were outrebounded, 31-24, and BG did not have its best shooting game, hitting 36% (16-for-44) shots from the floor and had 10 turnovers. After going 6-for-6 from the line in the first half, BG finished 8-for-14.
“The effort wasn’t the issue. I mean, I don’t think we took bad shots,” Roth said. “We just couldn’t get anything to roll early, especially in the first quarter I thought we had a ton of good looks.
“They just didn’t go in. Even late when we had some good looks from guys that we want, and that’s basketball.”
Griffin Pike, a 6-5 senior, was the game’s top scorer with 28 points and seven rebounds, but Arthur credited two others, junior Blake Robison, and sophomore Lane Kudzia, for making the biggest difference.
Kudzia scored just three points, but his job was to guard Amspoker, and Robison had six points, seven rebounds, and two steals, but he runs the offense and leads the team in assists.
“We had a sophomore in Zane Kudzia who stepped up and played really well at stopping him (Amspoker) and Blake Robison played really well. I thought he kind of controlled the game,” Arthur said.
“He’s really starting to become another coach on the floor right now. He wasn’t that at the beginning of the year, but he’s helping us in figuring stuff out. He’s finding guys who are hot and he’s starting to call plays out there, and he wasn’t like that before.”
Bender had seven points and five rebounds, Kinnee had five points and two steals, and senior Will Robinson contributed three points for the Generals.
AW shot 45% (20-for-44) from the fie3ld, made 8-of-12 (67%) shots from the charity stripe, and had 13 turnovers.
“Everybody is getting better but we still have a long way to go,” Arthur said. “We had three sophomores who contributed tonight and that is a huge success for us, and that bodes well for the rest of this year and our future.”
(photos by Kieran Percival/BGHS)
