1 – 2 – 3 – family!!! ... the Rockets come out of the huddle onto the court.

Will the last guy leaving Pandora on Tuesday please turn out the lights!

The Icon predicts that everyone within the 45877 zip code will be in the Stroh Center on the BGSU campus on Tuesday. The Pandora-Gilboa High School boys’ varsity basketball team faces Mohawk in the Division IV regional semi-finals.

Game time is 6:15 p.m.  (Doors open at 5:15 p.m.) The PG-Mohawk winner faces the winner of the Crestview vs. Maumee Valley Country Day game in the regional finals at BGSU on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Rockets, coached by Joe Braidic, have the best record of the four teams in the BG regional at 24-1. The Rockets are champs on the Blanchard Valley Conference and the Putnam County League. Mohawk is 19-6, Crestview (of the NWC) is 22-3, while Maumee VCD is 20-5.

In a phone conversation on Monday, Zach Weber, P-G’s athletic director, admitted that it’s a difficult two days at the school – academic-wise. “Everyone is thinking about basketball,” he laughed.

And that goes for the entire P-G community, as the fire department escorted the team back to town after its district win. The department stands ready to continue that as long at the Rockets keep winning.

The Rockets advanced to the regionals for only the second time in the school history by stopping two Putnam County rivals in the district last weekend. P-G beat Miller City 49-45 and then stopped Kalida 56-33 in the district finals.

The team of nine seniors is described as defensive minded and, on offense, everyone can shoot and score. It looks like next year will be a “reloading” year for the Rockets as the JV team had only two losses in the regular season.

The Rocket Rowdies – high school cheering section – will keep the P-G fans pumped durign the regionals as they have all season.

 Pandora-Galba’s starting five includes:
Jared Breece, junior, 6-0
Cooper McCullough, senior, 5-11
Riley Larcom, junior, 6-2
Drew Johnson, senior, 6-6
Eli Phillips, senior 6-3

A team roster is attached.

Pandora-Gilboa team photo

Front Row (L to R) – Colin Harris, Zach Neuenschwander, Aiden Harris, Aiden Morris, Tanner Liechty

Row 2 (L-R) – Madison Hovest, Taylor Deleruyelle, Olivia Schumacher, Autumn Sprunger, Samantha Inbody, Kaileigh Morris, Macy Rieman, Ellie Alexander, Brooke Meyer, Alexa Schulte

Row 3 (L-R) – Nick Norton, Josh Wauters, Jared Breece, Adam Schwab, Cooper McCullough, Eli Phillips, Drew Johnson, Ryan Lee, Grant Murphy, Chase Huffman, Austin Niese, Coach Paul Ginther, Cheer Coach Stephanie Myers.

Row 4 (L-R) – Coach Josh Lee, Coach Eric Berdin, Coach Scott Schnipke, Walker Macke, Zeb George, Riley Larcom, Cole Schwab, Travis Maag, Head Coach Joe Braidic, Coach Kurt Mullins