Patrick Henry holds off Archbold

1/27/2006
Archbold's Josh Johnson has the ball stripped by Patrick Henry's Brian Yarnell, right, as he drives against Kyle Brubaker.
Archbold's Josh Johnson has the ball stripped by Patrick Henry's Brian Yarnell, right, as he drives against Kyle Brubaker.

HAMLER - The Patrick Henry boys basketball team used a simple strategy in its game against Archbold last night: force someone beside Gene Goering to beat them.

Josh Johnson nearly did.

Johnson almost quadrupled

his season scoring average to keep the Blue Streaks in front through most of the contest. Then the senior just missed a jumper in the final seconds, allowing the Patriots to escape with a 49-48 victory on their home floor.

"I got hot, and I just figured I'd keep shooting until I started missing," said Johnson, who finished with a game-high 19 points. "I guess my luck just ran out on the last shot."

With the win Patrick Henry took sole possession of first place in the Northwest Ohio Athletic League at 4-0. Kyle Brubaker and Zack George each had 12 points for PH, now 8-2 overall, while Marc Krauss added 11.

Josh Wyse backed Johnson with 12 points while Goering worked to finished with 11 for Archbold, which falls to 10-3 and 5-1.

After the Patriots scored the first six points of the game, Johnson took over. He hit a pair of 3-pointers to get the Blue Streaks on the board and scored 17 first-half points to give Archbold a 30-27 halftime lead.

Johnson's scoring helped the Streaks overcome the defense played on Goering, who came into the contest as the NWOAL's leading scorer at 20.2 points per game but had just one in the half.

"We wanted to stop Goering, but Johnson went off on us so we had to tweak [the game plan] at halftime," Brubaker said. "He was making shots, and he was making plays. So we had to close down Johnson at the 3-point line."

While Archbold outplayed PH much of the game, it never led by more than six points.

"The good thing for us is that they never got too far ahead, so we never lost contact with them," PH coach Dave Krauss said. "They would have a five-point or six-point lead, we'd make a play and stay in contact."

The bad news for the Patriots was that they never seemed able to close the gap and claim the lead. Five times in the third quarter PH cut the lead to two points or fewer, only to see Archbold score.

"We came in here thinking we just had to compete," Blue Streaks coach Doug Krauss said. "They're bigger, maybe stronger and faster, but that doesn't make any difference. You have to compete.

"I thought our guys did that for the most part. When it came down to the end, they made one more play than we did."

And when it came down to the fourth quarter, the Archbold offense struggled. The Streaks made just one of 10 shots from the floor and scored just six points.

Yet they managed to hold PH off until Brubaker drove the lane and scored with two minutes to play, giving the Patriots a 47-46 lead. Brian Yarnell made two free throws with 58.1 seconds left to give Patrick Henry a three-point cushion, and Archbold managed just two free throws by Goering 16 seconds later.

"The thing that hurts the most is that we were ahead most of the game, and that we had them where we wanted them," Johnson said. "Then that last minute or so they took the lead away. It was frustrating."

- John Wagner

CARDINAL STRITCH 65,

OTTAWA HILLS 47

Michael Ameling had 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as Cardinal Stritch defeated visiting Ottawa Hills.

Eric McCloskey added 16 points for the Cardinals, who improved to 11-4 overall and 6-2 in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference.

Aaron Crooks and Phillip Beans each had nine points for the Green Bears (9-4, 5-3).

Stritch led 17-9 after one quarter and 34-22 at halftime.

LIBERTY CENTER 46,

EVERGREEN 42

METAMORA - Brian Babcock had 15 points and Kasey Bodenbender added 11 for Liberty Center (6-8, 4-2).

Nick Weissenberger had 10 points for the Vikings (6-7, 1-4).

DELTA 53, SWANTON 43

DELTA - Kyle Bostater had 19 points and Aaron Mahnke added 13 for Delta (8-3, 3-1 NWOAL).

Brad Betz had 21 points and Beau LaVigne 12 - all on 3-pointers - for Swanton (4-9, 1-4).

BRYAN 63, MONTPELIER 59

Tyler Hollabaugh had 13 points, Kolbrin Vitek 11 and Joe Silva 10 for Bryan (4-8, 1-4). Britt Barry had 21 points and Josh Daft 19 for the Locomotives (2-12, 0-5).

WAUSEON 45, NAPOLEON 38

NAPOLEON - Chris Villalovos had 16 points and Kevin Elson 13 for Wauseon. Dustin Smith had 18 points for Napoleon.

AYERSVILLE 46, EDGERTON 26

EDGERTON - Christa Rupple had 14 points and Kristen Nicely 11 for Ayersville (8-4, 3-1 GMC). Kendra Feltz led Edgerton (3-11, 0-4) with seven points.

PETTISVILLE 57,

NORTH CENTRAL 32

PETTISVILLE - Haley Nofziger had 17 points to lead four players in double figures for the Blackbirds (5-9, 4-4).

Kelsea Sellers had 11 points for North Central.

STRYKER 56, HILLTOP 27

WEST UNITY - Kylie Myers had 19 points and Molly Boetz 10 for Stryker. Megan Rupp had eight points for Hilltop.

HOLGATE 52, TINORA 37

DEFIANCE - Holgate's Liza Clady had 20 points, without scoring a 2-point basket. She had three 3-pointers and made 11 of 12 free throws.

Cassie Giesige added 15 points for Holgate (11-4).

Chelsie Timmons and Erin Garmyn each had 10 points for Tinora (6-9).

HOPEWELL-LOUDON 38,

St. WENDELIN 26

BASCOM - Lauren Chapman had 12 points and Jill Kreals 10 for Hopewell-Loudon (12-2, 7-1).