By Matt M. Stutz

Playing in the OHSAA Division IV tournament, the #4 seeded Pandora-Gilboa High School boys basketball team faced off against #5 seeded Delphos St. John’s in the Van Wert Sectional Final on Friday night, February 24.

In a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated, the Blue Jays scored first, never trailed, and exacted revenge on the Rockets, upsetting P-G 52-45.  In the regular season the two teams squared off in Delphos, when the Rockets won by a slim margin.

On Friday, the Rockets found themselves behind 14-8 after one quarter of play and the deficit grew to 29-18 by the halftime break.  P-G would go down by as many as fifteen points in the third quarter, but battled back, as they went into the final quarter still trailing by eleven, 36-25.  

The Rockets got to within seven points several times in the final couple minutes, but each time St. John’s (17-7) was fouled, they knocked down their free throws to close out the game.

Aidan Harris led the way offensively for the Rockets (18-5) with 12 points, while Colin Harris added 10 points; all coming in the fourth quarter.  Senior Derek Maag chipped in with 9 points, hitting the lone Rocket 3-pointer of the game.  Aidan Morris finished the night with 8 points and Owen Huffman closed out the scoring with 6 points.