Ritzler-led Senecas sweep aside Blue Jackets

A slow start didn't halt Calvert's chances too much Thursday as the Senecas got going after the first quarter and didn't look back to sweep the season series with rival New Riegel 49-39 in SBC River play.New Riegel came out and led 11-7 as Alec Hohman dropped in a quick seven points, but then the Blue Jackets only scored a combined 15 points over the next two quarters, while Calvert senior Logan Ritzler got hot.The Senecas (11-7, 7-4 SBC River) picked it up defensively, which led to more efficient offense. Ritzler led the Senecas with a game-high 22 points and pulled down six rebounds.But it was big contributions off the bench from Tucker Coleman and Emman Moreno that made the difference."New Riegel did a great job of pre-scouting and understanding the plays we ran, and they knew what we were going to do a lot of the time, which you'll have when you play someone twice during the season," Calvert coach Jon Otterbacher said. "We allowed them to do that, but we were able to move the ball around, and once Logan was able to get open and hit some early shots and get some confidence … his game was fantastic tonight. It's been a while since he's shot that well from the floor, so it was nice to see him put the ball in the hoop."Those young sophomores that we're preparing them to be varsity players for next year, but they're stepping up this year. Emman is a great on-the-ball defender. We're continuing for him to grow and develop and having him play some more point, so Grady (Otterbacher) can play more wing, which opens up more things. Also, hats off to our big guys inside, they battled all night. You didn't get the scoring tonight from (Ethan) Baugher, Max (Herbert) or Vinny (Lyons) like we have been, but Tucker carried the load in there. Defensively, they completely took them out of their game plan."New Riegel (6-13, 4-8) had the size advantage inside with Owen Kummerer and Aiden Faeth, but Calvert's guards made any entry pass tough, plus with the defense converging on them, it was tough for New Riegel's post players to get much going.Faeth finished with 11 points, but Calvert held Kummerer to six."In the second quarter and in the second half, they really pressured us and it looked like we got a little tired and we didn't get those patient shots we got in the first quarter," New Riegel coach Jordyn Jury said. "They also did a good job forcing some turnovers, especially in that third quarter where we had a couple possessions in a row turning the ball over and it compounded things when they started making a bunch of shots too after that."Hohman paced the Blue Jackets' start to the game, but then Ritzler took over from there, opening the second frame with five straight points and then Coleman scored five more to give the Senecas a slight 19-17 edge at the half.New Riegel took a 21-19 lead out of the half with back-to-back buckets from Cameron and Alec Hohman, but then the Senecas turned things around with a 15-5 run to end the third as Otterbacher drilled a triple and Ritzler splashed consecutive treys.A 7-0 spurt to begin the fourth really put pressure on the Blue Jackets as they fell behind 41-26 with six minutes left."Ritzler is a great player and a scorer, so we knew he was going to get his points, but our job was to limit everyone else," Jury said. "We just weren't in position for a lot of their pick and roles, our rotations weren't there on Coleman to where if we were there, we were late and he took advantage of our lapses on defense."We keep telling our guys that our record isn't reflective on how good of a team we are. When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we know what kind of team we have. We did a bunch of really good things tonight, but when you play a solid team like Calvert you have to do those things for a full 32 minutes."Alec Hohman paced the Blue Jackets with 12 points. Otterbacher had 11 points and three assists, while Coleman added nine points."We've lost seven games … six of them being tightly contested. We lost to a good Ottoville team in overtime, lost to Gibsonburg on the road by three, so we're right there where we should be contending for a league title, but we didn't have the balls bounce our way," Otterbacher said. "It's a part of life; you have to continue to build and grow. Still have three home games left, which are all tough, so there is no looking ahead yet for the tournament, but rather looking at each game as it comes." Calvert 49, New Riegel 39New Riegel (6-13, 4-8 SBC River): Quinn Allison 0-0-0; Alec Hohman 5-0-12; Aiden Faeth 5-0-11; Cameron Hohman 2-0-4; Brayden Schalk 3-0-6; Ian Harnishfeger 0-0-0; Sam Clouse 0-0-0; Owen Kummerer 3-0-6. Totals: 18-0-39.Calvert (11-7, 7-4): Grady Otterbacher 4-2-11; Logan Ritzler 7-4-22; Emman Moreno 1-0-2; Max Herbert 0-0-0; Tucker Coleman 4-1-9; Logan DeMoss 0-0-0; Ethan Baugher 0-0-0; Vincenzo Lyons 2-1-5. Totals: 18-8-49.New Riegel&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;6&emsp;&emsp;9&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;– 39Calvert&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;– 493-point goals: New Riegel 3 (A. Hohman 2, Faeth); Calvert 5 (Ritzler 4, Otterbacher)Foul shots: New Riegel 0-3; Calvert 8-10Turnovers: New Riegel 15; Calvert 17