By Matt M. Stutz

The Pandora-Gilboa High School boy’s basketball team picked up their first win of the young 2024-25 season Friday night December 6, defeating Elmwood 51-46 in the Blanchard Valley Conference opener for both schools.

The Rockets never trailed throughout the game, jumping ahead 13-9 after one quarter of play and stretching their advantage out to 27-14 at the halftime intermission.  P-G senior Lane Lee was a man-on-a-mission as he pumped in twenty-one first half points to help the Rockets gain their advantage. 

The Rockets would go up by as many as eighteen points early in the third quarter and looked to be firmly in control, on their way to an easy home win. That’s when things went awry for the Rockets.  

Elmwood, to their credit, did not quit. The Royals started knocking down shots and the Rockets started getting sloppy. Elmwood would chip away at the deficit throughout the remainder of the third quarter, cutting the P-G lead to ten at 40-30 entering quarter number four.  

Elmwood kept fighting and fought all the way back. Following back-to-back made three pointers, Elmwood knotted the score up at 46 with under one minute remaining in the contest. Elmwood looked to have all the momentum, and the home crowd looked stunned.  

P-G would eventually call a time-out with 30.2 seconds left in the ballgame, to hopefully draw up one final play. In the process of the final play, P-G’s Adam Buell would get fouled and promptly hit the first of two free throws to give the Rockets back a one-point lead. On Buell’s missed second shot, P-G was able to grab the rebound and the Rockets Lane Lee was fouled. Lee stepped to the line and calmly hit both of his free throws, giving P-G a 49-46 lead with 13.1 seconds to go. Following a defensive stand by the Rockets, Lee was again fouled and hit two more free throws with 3 seconds left for the final margin of victory.

Lee finished the game pouring in a career-high 28 points for the Rockets; ten of those coming from the free throw line. Cory Gerten would tally 9 points for the winners, knocking down two 3-pointers. Adam Buell finished his night with 7 points, while twin brother Jack Buell added 6 points. Cam Verhoff hit a late free throw for his lone point and closing out Rocket scoring.

Elmwood won the JV game.

Next up the Rockets (1-1, 1-0 BVC, 0-0 PCL) will play Kalida on Tuesday night December 10 in a Putnam County League match-up.