Blue Streaks prevail

Delta's Tyson Schnitkey (23) defends against Archbold's Gabe Rodriguez (3). THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH Enlarge | Photo Reprints

ARCHBOLD — Luke Kammeyer typically roams around the rim in Archbold's offensive sets.

The Blue Streaks' 6-foot-7 senior post player is built to bang around the basket.

Yet, Kammeyer may have made the biggest impact in Friday night's Northwest Ohio Athletic League boys basketball game against Delta when he was standing 25 feet away from the rim.

With time running out on the first half, Kammeyer launched a 3-pointer a few feet above the top of the arc that swished through the net as the halftime buzzer sounded. The unexpected basket gave Archbold a 19-16 halftime lead over Delta.

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Scoreboard

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The Blue Streaks rode the momentum into the second half and went on to claim a 59-46 victory over the Panthers.

Archbold (13-4, 6-0 NWOAL) opened the third quarter with a 17-2 run and never looked back.

"That really was big, and it turned into something really positive for us," Archbold coach Doug Krauss said of Kammeyer's long-range basket and the Blue Streaks' third-quarter push.

Kammeyer finished with 10 points and was one of four players to score in double figures for Archbold, which took another step closer to claiming at least a share of the NWOAL championship. Zeb Frank led the way with a game-high 17 points, including three 3-pointers.

Tyson Dietrich finished with 13 points and Tanner Wyse added 12 for Archbold, which outscored Delta 19-8 in the third quarter to take a 38-24 lead into the final period.

"The three that they hit on us right before the half was big for them, and then they come out in the third quarter with a run, and we just didn't respond to the heat," Delta coach Cory Sprow said. "We turned the ball over way too much to recover from that."

The Panthers (10-5, 5-2 NWOAL) committed 19 turnovers against the Blue Streaks. Archbold was guilty of 14 turnovers.

Blake Green struggled shooting the basketball, but still ended up scoring a team-high 13 points for Delta, which would have pulled into a tie in the league standings with frontrunner Archbold.

The Blue Streaks' fast start after halftime led to them going up by as much as 18 points in the third quarter. A basket by Wyse with just over four minutes left in the period gave Archbold a 36-18 lead over Delta.

"We really got our confidence going on offense," Dietrich said.

The Blue Streaks took a 14-point advantage into the fourth quarter and didn't allow the Panthers to get any closer than nine points. The Blue Streaks made 15 of 18 foul shots during the fourth quarter.

The uphill climb for the Panthers was too difficult to overcome.

"Against a great team like Archbold you can't give up those kinds of runs and expect to come out on top," Sprow said. "I give our kids a ton of credit for battling back and hanging in there and not quitting."

With two league games remaining, the Blue Streaks are in control of their fate. Two wins guarantee an outright league championship.

"We're in a very good position, but it's a long ways away," Krauss said. "We have to take them one game at a time."

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302, or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.