KETTERING — Botkins and Tri-Village’s Flyin’ to the Hoop matchup on Sunday morning at Trent Arena didn’t disappoint fans who made long drives to see two of the state’s top Division IV teams clash in the annual invitational tournament.
After playing in two overtimes, Botkins senior forward Jacob Pleiman drew a foul with two seconds left and split a pair of free throws to give the Trojans a 51-50 victory. It capped off a back-and-forth contest that saw five lead changes and six ties.
The victory secured the No. 1 ranking for Botkins (13-1) in Division IV in this week’s Associated Press state poll. The Trojans entered ranked No. 1 in the state, while Tri-Village (10-3) entered with a No. 5 ranking. The Patriots remained at No. 5 this week.
The squads — which each had shooting and ball-handling issues — traded runs throughout regulation.
Tri-Village started hot early, but Botkins closed the gap to 11-10 at the end of the first quarter, then dominated the second with an 11-3 edge to take a 21-14 halftime lead.
The Trojans pushed their lead to 27-16 early in the third quarter, but Tri-Village finished the quarter on a 12-4 run to pull within 31-28.
Dalton Delong hit two key 3-pointers in the fourth to help the Patriots tie it. The squads played to a 41-41 tie at the end of regulation, then a 48-48 tie at the end of the first overtime.
The Patriots had the ball and went for the final shot in double overtime. Layne Sarver, who recently became Tri-Village’s all-time leading scorer, missed a jumper, and Pleiman grabbed a rebound and was fouled.
Pleiman made the first of a one-and-one with two seconds left to put Botkins ahead.
It was the first game for the Trojans without senior forward Dylan Topp, who suffered a season-ending injury in the squad’s win over Anna on Friday.
Post players Jordan Herzog and Elijah Stewart stepped up in Topp’s absence. Herzog got the starting nod as the Trojans’ second post player and scored five points while bringing down three rebounds. Stewart scored 13 points off the bench.
Pleiman led Botkins with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Jameson Meyer added 12 points by hitting 4-of-8 three-pointers.
Delong led Tri-Village with 12 points. Layne Sarver scored 11, Justin Finkbine scored 10, Wilson Suggs scored nine and Josh Scantland scored eight.
Botkins shot 18 for 41 (43.9 percent) from the floor and had a 31-22 rebounding edge but committed 22 turnovers to Tri-Village’s 12. The Patriots shot 19 for 47 (40.4 percent) from the floor.
The two squads could meet again in either a district final or regional tournament game. Both advanced to regionals last year, and Botkins won the D-IV state title.
