Perrysburg's season ended by Findlay

3/6/2010

FINDLAY — Only one team all year had figured out a way to beat Perrysburg.

That is until last night, when Findlay pulled off a 41-39 upset of the Northern Lakes League champion in a Division I boys basketball sectional final at Liberty-Benton.

Trojans 6-foot-10 sophomore center C.J. Gettys provided a team-high 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Brock Ammons added 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

The Trojans, who came into the matchup as the underdogs, owned the lead for most of the contest. Yet, they had to sweat it out down the stretch because they made only one of 10 free throws on the night.

That poor foul shooting gave Perrysburg's Charlie Hughes a chance to tie the score or get the win with less than 10 seconds left in the game.

Hughes, who became the Yellow Jackets' all-time leading scorer with his sixth point in the first half, rebounded a missed Findlay free-throw attempt with seven seconds remaining and dribbled down court but lost control of the ball before firing up a shot before time expired.

“We've played in those situations a number of times, and we could have gone a lot of different ways,” Perrysburg coach Dave Boyce said of opting not to call a timeout to set up a final play.

Hughes and Andrew Holliger scored 14 points apiece to lead the Yellow Jackets (19-2), who made only 12 of 32 shot attempts on the night. Findlay (15-7) finished the night 17 of 36 from the field, including a 6-for-15 effort from behind the 3-point line.

Clay Paul sparked the Trojans early by scoring his eight points in the opening quarter to help Findlay close out the period with a 16-11 lead. Two of his three baskets came from behind the 3-point line.

“The key was the 3-pointers they hit in the first half,” Boyce said.

Findlay's outside shooting eventually led to the Trojans working the basketball inside to Gettys, who towered over any Yellow Jackets defender that attempted to guard him.

“We were hoping with his size he might pose a problem, and I think he did,” Findlay coach Jim Rucki said.

Gettys said the Trojans were able to stick with their game plan against the Yellow Jackets.

“We just had to get the tempo, and we wanted to execute and slow [the game] down,” said Gettys, who also recorded a couple of blocked shots.

Findlay led by as many as nine points in the second half after taking a 26-18 lead into halftime.