The championship game is Saturday.
Guy Harder scores his foul shots for Paulding. More pictures at westbendnews.net
By the time a boys basketball team makes it to Districts in Ohio, only about 30% of the teams are left who started. Paulding and Liberty Center were each one of those teams making it past the cuts of Sectionals. The game took place at Bowling Green State University on Thursday, March 6 to a crowded stadium just finished with the Ottawa Glandorf defeating Archbold 53-46.
Treston Gonzales had a great night under the basket also, scoring here.
Paulding started the game as the home team and Guy Harder was fouled within the first few seconds on a jumpshot. The first shot was a miss but the second swooshed and the score began with the Panthers in the lead 1-0. For the first few minutes one wondered if the Tigers were going to make an appearance as Paulding quickly made the score 12-0. The Paulding kids on the end were going wild! That was not the end of the first quarter though. Liberty Center got back in the game just as quick as Paulding took their lead. With a couple of fouls on scored points, the Tigers’ Logan Meyer and Kaleb Pohlman both made their shots and with recovered turnovers, the score became 12-10 ending the first quarter. The Tigers had difficulty hitting their free throws, while Paulding hit nearly all.
Right after the second quarter started Liberty Center added another point narrowing the lead to only one and the Paulding crowd was getting nervous. Coach Shawn Brewer got brought his team and explained the focus for this team. It must have worked. Harder once again impressed as he nailed several outside field goals in the 2nd. Paulding brought in new life as the game sped off, quickly the score was 24-11. The lead was in the Panthers favor, finishing the half 29-17.
The third quarter of the game moved rather slow and the Liberty Center outscored the Panthers by one point. Paulding extended their lead in the fourth and having their best quarter yet, winning the game by 17. The game finished 53-36 with a very excited Panther crowd soon looking for their vehicles in the multiple parking lots of the Stroh Stadium.
Score by Quarter:
Paulding: 12 17 6 18 = 53
Liberty Center: 10 7 8 11 = 36
Points by Player:
Paulding: Guy Harder 16, Treston Gonzales 14, Quentin Vance 8, Kayle Kauser 7, Gerod Harder 4, Julian Salinas 5.
Liberty Center: Logan Meyer 12, Kaleb Pohlman 8, Konnor Pohlman 5, Kody Chestnut 5, Kam Pohlman 4, Matt Huber 2
The Tigers finished their season at 16-7, while the Panthers move on with a record of 19-1. Paulding moves to the sectional championship game on Saturday, March 8 at the Stroh Stadium in Bowling Green at 2 pm to compete against Ottawa-Glandorf for the District Title.
