Local Pictures
Classified Ads
Obituaries
Sports
Forms
 Announce Births
 Engagements
 Weddings
Email Us
Buy A Copy
Schools
Communities
Local Links

click here to
SUBSCRIBE
to
The Daily
Standard
Newspaper

 

[ PREVIOUS STORIES ]

12-20-03: Bulldogs survive another against Cougars

Controversial call late in the fourth quarter leaves Van Wert up in arms

By RYAN HINES
rhines@dailystandard.com

The last two times that Celina and Van Wert met on the hardwood, it came down to the last possession to determine a winner.
Both times Celina came away a winner and the Bulldogs made it three straight wins in tight ball games against Van Wert on Friday at the Fieldhouse as the Green and White held off the Cougars, 60-58.
Celina improves to 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Western Buckeye League while Van Wert drops its first contest of the year and stands at 3-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Close games have become a yearly event when the Bulldogs and Cougars lock up, much to the dismay of Van Wert head coach Dave Froelich.
“There always seems to be an unusual play when we play here (Fieldhouse) and it always seems to go against us,” said a visibly upset Froelich after the game. “The officials made a horrible call at a crucial time of the ballgame and Celina made their free throws down the stretch to win it.”
The controversial call that Froelich was referring to came with 1:20 to go in the fourth quarter when Van Wert’s Kyle Holliday drove the lane for what appeared to be two points and a potential three-point play which could have tied the score. However, the official under the basket called Holliday for an offensive foul negating the two points and sending the Cougars fans into an uproar.
Van Wert’s John Moonshower and Celina’s Tim Homan exchanged a pair of free throws before the Cougars’ Kyle Holliday was only able to convert one-of-two leaving the Scarlet and Grey down 56-54 with 37 ticks of the clock remaining.
Celina’s Joe Kanney hit a pair of free throws to build the lead back to four points and Van Wert’s Rian Rainey hit a driving layup with 21 seconds left leaving the Cougars down two points, 58-56.
The Bulldogs’ Brian Gagle drained two more charity tosses to build the lead back to four points with just 18 seconds to go in the game before Holliday added a meaningless basket for the the Cougars at the buzzer.
After blowing a nine-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Celina used a perfect night at the free-throw line to win it for the Bulldogs. Celina hit all 14 of its free throws for the game, including nine-of-nine in the fourth quarter.
“Tonight’s game came down to defensive stops late and making free throws,” said Celina head coach Mike Kanney. “That’s how you win games.”
Homan led Celina with 15 points on the night while Scott Boley added 14 points, Kanney with 13 points and Gagle with 11 markers.
“I think that we did a pretty good job on Homan tonight, but the rest of their players like Scott Boley and Brian Gagle came up with some big shots at key moments,” said Froelich.
“We need balance to be the best team that we can be and tonight we got balance from a lot of players,” stated Kanney. “I think that our kids’ eyes light up when they see that the defense is going to focus on Tim (Homan). They all stepped up and played aggressively.”
Rainey led all scorers for Van Wert with 18 points while teammates Moonshower and Rick Ditto added 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Celina is back in action tonight at home against Greenville.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY STANDARD

Phone: (419)586-2371,   Fax: (419)586-6271
All content copyright 2003
The Standard Printing Company
P.O. Box 140, Celina, OH 45822