Panthers push Stockaders a bit, but OF prevails

OLD FORT - Each year the journey that starts in sectionals is always different and unique.For Old Fort, while it knows what to expect at tournament time, it can be caught off guard sometimes.The Stockaders (22-2) pulled off a victory at home in Division VII sectional final Friday as they sent the Panthers back home, 57-31."I thought it was a typical tournament game," Old Fort coach Eric Hoover said. "With it being sectionals, I knew it was going to be a tough battle and McComb played hard. They played very physical defense, and tried to take us out of what we do offensively."One surprise from McComb (4-19) that nobody expected was how a young and inexperienced team could be physical, and be able to be methodical at the same time."They really took care of the ball and that ensured that we couldn't get as many opportunities on turnovers which we are able to do most of the time," Hoover said. "It probably slowed down our offense, and even slowed down our ability to pass the ball around, which surprised us. Slowly, quarter by quarter, we were able to continue to build the lead and make our rounds, and stops on defense."Old Fort had nine turnovers, five of which came in the fourth quarter. McComb turned it over 13 times, five of which came in the fourth quarter as well."I mean it was easy to see what they were up to," junior forward Issac Gallagher said. "At the beginning, they were shoving us all over the place so we knew how the rest of the game was going to go."He was second in the top scorers for Old Fort with 13 points. Top scorer of the game and for the Stockaders was Ryan Adelsperger with 16 points."Its something that you have to do come tournament time," Hoover said. "We knew we had to get to the free throw line and with them being up on you and being so physical, you have to get to the hoop, and that's one way to stop us. You get a lot more fouls going to the hoop then shooting a 3-pointer. We were able to do that, and get more physical getting to the basket, and drawing some contact to get to the line."The Stockaders went to the line 16 times compared to the eight that the Panthers did. The majority of the trips were in the second quarter.The moment the Panthers knew they were in a hole came in the second quarter. The Stockaders knew that if they made enough trips to the free throw line, along with a couple other maneuvers, that they could keep the lead. With less than a minute in, Adelsperger stood at the line after McComb fouled him as he tried to land a 3-pointer. He made the first, missed the second, but sank the third. After that, the Panthers turned the ball over, and an inbounds pass from Grant Havens to Issac Gallagher allowed him to score a basket. Less than a minute after that possession, Gallagher found himself on the charity stripe and made both of his foul shots.The Stockaders were putting the Panthers in the rearview mirror 23-13.Between turnovers and missed rebounds, and Old Fort having possession of the ball for over four minutes, Luke Kern nailed a triple, his lone one of the night.It wasn't enough to stop Old Fort. They put together a 7-0 run over a two minute span, and the score 30-16.The lone top scorer for McComb was Kern with 15 points.The woes continued to add up in the third quarter, as the Stockaders had possession of the ball for six minutes, and applied pressure defensively to make sure that McComb couldn't dig out. They had put 12 more points on the board during that time between Adelsperger and Gallagher with buckets, 3-pointers, and foul shots.By the time the Panthers gained possession, there was less than a minute remaining in the quarter and all five points were from Aiden Hendren."Old Fort is a tough team," McComb coach Glenn Miehls said. "When you fall behind, and watching all the films and games, they like to get out and they like to run. You just can't get into that game with them. We were more methodically at times, sometimes even more with the lead."Old Fort now faces a familiar team at Fostoria. It will face New Riegel, which OF has beaten twice already this season, and while they have won both times, it doesn't mean that they can rely on winning a third time."We have to continue to get better handling the ball under pressure and with it being tournament time and us having been there before, and we know that's what it is going to be," Hoover said. "We know that New Reigel is a very athletic and physical team and we just played them recently. We know each other really well and we played them three times last year, twice this year, so we know what is coming. We know what each other is going to do and its going to come down to who goes out next to be the best. The next few practices, we are going to work on being able to execute under pressure and go out and compete." Old Fort 57, McComb 31McComb (4-19): Casen Stateler 2-0-4, Cam Smith 2-0-4, Grady Schroeder 0-3-3, Aiden Hendren 2-0-5, Luke Kern 5-4-15. Totals: 11-7-31Old Fort (22-2): Griffin Miller 5-1-11, Tyson Frisch 2-1-5, Issac Gallgher 4-4-13, Grant Havens 1-1-4, Dimitri Carter 2-0-6, Ryan Adelsperger 4-4-16, Henry Beisner 1-0-2. Totals: 20-11-57McComb 13-7-5-6-31Old Fort 17-15-15-10-573 points: McComb 2 (Hendren 1, Kern 1); Old Fort 8 (Gallgher 1, Havens 1, Carter 2, Adelsperger 4)Foul Shots: McComb 7-8; Old Fort 11-16