Senecas survive Big Red, advance to 3rd matchup with rival Old Fort

GALION – Calvert had to hold on for dear life Thursday night.After gaining a little breathing room with a 24-16 halftime lead over Plymouth in a Division VII district semifinal at Galion High School, the Big Red were hanging around.But after a huge three-point play from Calvert's Logan DeMoss, the Senecas took a 40-32 lead with 5:39 left in the game.But then point guard Grady Otterbacher fouled out with 2:49 left.However, after a loose ball found the hands of Vincenzo Lyons in the paint, the junior forward went up and converted a three-point play, allowing the Senecas to gain some breathing room with a 43-39 lead.Then Logan Ritzler fouled out with 50.6 remaining in the game as Calvert clung to a 45-42 lead.Without its top two guards on the floor, Calvert managed Plymouth's pressure and hit three free throws down the stretch to survive with a 48-42 victory.It wasn't exactly the cleanest way to close out a tournament win, but it was a win all the same. They all count the same in March."We got lucky. We survived and get to play again on Saturday and they don't," Calvert coach Jon Otterbacher said. "We did not do a good job especially with arguably our two best players fouling out of the game – one of them on a wide-open layup you just give them another four minutes, but you decide to contest it and draw a foul. We made a lot of mistakes down the stretch. We do a lot of end-of-game situations, so that stuff is troubling to me that we didn't execute at all."Defensively I thought we did a great job, especially on (Jarrett) Burrer, who is a stud athlete that will play at the next level. They made plays down the stretch to keep it close and thankfully we made enough free throws the last minute to hold on for the win."The two keys in Calvert's favor were the abysmal foul shooting from the Big Red (15-9) as they went just 12 of 26 from the line, and a big 10-0 run from the Senecas to end the opening half that steered the momentum. Ritzler dropped in five of the 10 points in the run."Free throws killed us. You go 12 of 26, shooting 46%, you're not going to win many games doing that," Plymouth coach Tim Brafford said. "Our 3s … we just weren't hitting. It happens in some games and you'd like it to not happen at this game, but it did. "Even with that, we were in the game. I honestly thought we were going to win this game tonight. They fought their butts off. We just ended up on the short end of the stick, so you have to tell Tiffin Calvert congrats and tip your cap."Plymouth was the aggressor early with multiple offensive rebounds and second-chance opportunities. But the Senecas weathered the first couple of minutes to grab a 13-11 edge after the first stop as Ritzler dropped in eight of his game-high 18 points in the first.Things slowed down in the second until that huge 10-0 run for the Senecas.In the end, Burrer was limited to 14 points, while Izaya Reynolds added 11. Lyons had 10 for Calvert, while Otterbacher added nine and DeMoss ended with eight.Since the Senecas survived, they get a third date with rival Old Fort back at Galion Saturday at 7 p.m. Old Fort won both regular season matchups this season (65-58 and 54-46). The Stockaders topped Sandusky St. Mary 40-29 Thursday at Oregon Clay."Either one of them will be a tough matchup for us, so we're gonna have to get to the films tomorrow and get ready for Saturday," coach Otterbacher said. Calvert 48, Plymouth 42Plymouth (15-9): Keegan Beverly 0-1-1; Jarrett Burrer 4-6-14; Jackson Bays 1-0-3; Izaya Reynolds 3-6-11; Lex Grose 2-0-4; Dasean Winfield 0-1-1; Cainan Kilgore 3-0-8. Totals: 13-12-42.Calvert (16-7): Grady Otterbacher 3-1-9; Logan Ritzler 6-5-18; Emman Moreno 0-0-0; Max Herbert 1-0-2; Tucker Coleman 0-1-1; Logan DeMoss 2-4-8; Ethan Baugher 0-0-0; Vincenzo Lyons 4-2-10. Totals: 16-13-48.Plymouth&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;5&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;– 42Calvert&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;– 483-point goals: Plymouth 4 (Kilgore 2, Bays, Reynolds); Calvert 3 (Otterbacher 2, Ritzler)Foul shots: Plymouth 12-26; Calvert 13-20Turnovers: Plymouth 10; Calvert 15