Streaks Guarantee Share Of NWOAL Title With 53-45 Win Over Wauseon
by Scott Schultz Buckeye Sports Reporter

Archbold coaches told Colton Martinez, left, that teams are giving him the shot, and he should take it. Martinez scored a career-high 14 points as the Streaks beat Wauseon 53-45 and assured themselves of at least a share of the league title.- photo by Scott Schultz

Archbold wrapped up at least a share of the Northwest Ohio Athletic League boys basketball title, Friday, Jan. 25, defeating visiting Wauseon 53-45.

The Streaks upped their record to 14-2, 7-0 in league play. The Indians fell to 11-3, 5-1 NWOAL.

AHS can wrap up an outright title, Friday, Feb. 8 when it hosts Delta.

"This was a great team win for us," said Doug Krauss, AHS head coach. "A couple of weeks from now we will figure out the league title. The kids have worked hard for it.

"It's always an honor to represent the school, kids, and community, and winning a league championship is something we all are proud of."

It may sound like a broken record, but two games out of the season these two squads meet on the hardwood in a tournament type atmosphere. Student bodies urge their teams to outperform the other, and the gym is filled to capacity.

The Indians stopped the Streaks 55-43 in the opening game of the season at Wauseon, but this time the Streaks held home-court advantage.

"As usual this was a great atmosphere. That is why we play them two times," said Krauss. "It's a great way to start the season, and obviously this is a big game; it always seems to have some say in the league title."

Streaks Lead 13-8 After One

Wauseon won the opening tip, and Kevin Elson put the first points on the board at the charity stripe. The 2-0 lead quickly disappeared when Trey Smith hit a deuce and Colton Martinez buried a three-pointer.

Tyler Uphaus answered with a 10-footer, followed by Derek Schrock with a five-footer for a 6-5 Indian lead.

That was the last lead they enjoyed.

AHS outscored the Indians 8- 2 in the closing minutes of the first quarter. Gene Goering hit a jumper and Justin Rupp nailed a deuce, upping Archbold's lead to 9-6. Tyler Hinkle closed out the scoring for Wauseon with a 10-footer, while Goering, facing a double team, spotted Martinez for an open three. Martinez nailed it for a12-8 lead.

Martinez scored a careerhigh of 14 points in the contest, including 10 in the first half, while Goering led all scorers with 19.

"We talked to Colton this week and told him that teams are giving him the shot; you've got to step up and take it," said Krauss. "I didn't think he was listening, (but) he had some key buckets for us."

Wauseon opened the second period with Richard Russell muscling his way in for two. The two squads exchanged baskets throughout the quarter, with Archbold putting in 16 points to the Indians' 14, including a Schrock three at the buzzer. But Wauseon trailed 29-21 going into the locker room.

A low-scoring 9-8 third quarter left the Blue and Gold up 37-30.

Martinez opened the fourth with a defensive rebound, and with three Indians in pursuit outraced the field for a layup. Holding a 41-36 lead, the Blue and Gold went on a 10-0 run for a 51-36 advantage with 1:37 remaining.

Russell finally broke the scoring drought for Wauseon with a jumper, and Elson converted a steal into two points. Schrock hit a pair of free throws, narrowing the score to 51-42 with 41 seconds left. Elson's trey closed the gap to 51-45 with 8 seconds left.

Goering hit a pair at the foul line to cap off the 53-45 victory.

"I thought our kids did a great job tonight," said Krauss. "I thought we did a great job on Kevin Elson; he had to really work for what he did get. What he got, he got in transition. Justin (Rupp) did a super job on him.

"This was a real good game," said Ken Burgei, WHS head coach. "We just had some spurts where we couldn't score, and let them get away from us a little bit. I thought we had lack of ball movement and we didn't have good ball reversal, but once we got that corrected, things developed a little better for us.

"There was so many times Archbold just had to defend a quarter of the court, and that is easier to do than to defend the whole court."

"We had the foul situation in our favor," said Krauss. "We were shooting the ball well from the line and we had fouls to give there at the end, so we were in a pretty good situation."

As a team Archbold ripped the nets, shooting 51% from the field, while the Indians scorched them, hitting 53%. The Blue and Gold capitalized from the charity stripe, hitting 15/21. Wauseon connected on 7/9.

Schrock led WHS with 16 points. Russell chipped in 14.

BOX SCORE

ARCHBOLD (53) - Martinez 14, J. Rupp 5, D. Rupp 8, G. Goering 19, Smith 7. Totals 16-15-53.

WAUSEON (45) - Elson 8, Uphaus 4, Schrock 16, Russell 14, Hinkle 3. Totals 18-7-45.

AHS	13 16 8	16 - 53
WHS	8 13 9	15 - 45

Reserve score: Archbold won 48-45.