By Matt M. Stutz

The Pandora-Gilboa High School boys basketball team hit the tournament trail Wednesday evening February 23, in a Van Wert Semi-final match-up against Miller City.  P-G used a huge fourth quarter run, turning a tight game into a comfortable 53-42 tournament win. P-G also won the regular season match-up with Miller City. 

Following three quarters of back-and-forth–with nine ties and sixteen lead changes–the Rockets found themselves down 32-29 going into the final eight minutes.  Looking to gain some momentum, P-G applied a full court press to start the 4th quarter.  The Rockets proceeded to turn steals and possessions into points, going on an 11-1 run and breaking open the close game.  The Rockets outscored the Wildcats 24-10 in the 4th to secure the win.

The Harris twins had a big night for the Rockets: the super sophomores combined to score thirty-five points. Aidan scored the first two points of the contest on his way to a game high 22 points, connecting on three 3-pointers. Brother Colin scored in each quarter, finishing with a total of 13 points.

Miller City held a slim 9-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and stretched it to 18-14 in the second quarter, before P-G battled back to take a 21-20 halftime advantage. Miller City came back, outscoring P-G 12-8 in the third quarter.

Eli Huffman came off the bench to chip in 6 points for P-G. Teammate Dillon Krohn finished with 4 points all coming in the fourth quarter, while Ryan Johnson also added 4 points as he struggled with foul trouble.  Ethan Luginbill hit one bucket in the first quarter for his 2 points.

The Rockets (16-7) will now face off against Ottoville (14-9) in the Van Vert Sectional final at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 25 at Van Wert High School. The winner advances to the Elida District semi-final on Tuesday March 1.