By Matt M. Stutz

The Pandora-Gilboa High School boy’s basketball team hit the road Tuesday evening Feb. 6 for a Putnam County League match-up against State Route 12 rival Columbus Grove. In overtime the Rockets pulled away for a tough 55-48 win. 

Until the final tally, neither team was able to get ahead by more than four points throughout regulation. The win keeps P-G undefeated in PCL action and alone in first place with two games to go.

Both teams struggled to shoot the basketball in the first two quarters as they battled back-and forth with the biggest lead coming at the very end of the first half. The Rockets got a big shot from Colin Harris who hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put P-G into the locker room ahead 19-16.  

The third quarter saw an uptick in scoring and the two teams continued to go back-and-forth for most of the period. The Bulldogs then went on a little run at the very end, scoring the final four points to take a 33-31 advantage into the final quarter.

The Rocket deficit grew to four points in the fourth before they made a run of their own to take the lead back. Some missed free throw opportunities late by both teams kept the score tied. Grove had the final shot with two seconds left, but P-G forced overtime.

In overtime, the Bulldogs jumped ahead in the opening minute 45-43. P-G’s Zach Neuenschwander came right back on the very next possession and hit the biggest shot of the night, canning a three pointer that proved to put the Rockets ahead for good. The P-G lead slowly grew from there as they iced it away from the free throw line.

A trio of Rockets reached double digit scoring. Leading the way were the Harris twins, Aiden and Colin, as they each scorched the nets for 16 points each. Nate Maag followed the twins with a total of 10 points, seven of them in the first half.  Zach Neuenschwander chipped in with 5 points including his huge trifecta in OT. Aidan Morris and Owen Huffman both added 4 points a piece to close out the scoring.

SCOREBOARD

P-G (15-2, 6-1 BVC, 6-0 PCL) will be back in action on February 9 when they will travel to McComb to take on the Panthers in the Blanchard Valley Conference season finale for the Rockets.  A P-G win would secure at least a share of the BVC championship.