Wauseon's Colin Dietrich, right, gets a hand on the ball as he applies defensive pressure on Archbold's Zeb Frank.– photo by Scott Schultz Playing basketball against a Northwest Ohio Athletic League rival in front of a packed house on a Friday night with a tournament atmosphere; isn’t that what high school basketball is all about?

Archbold hosted Wauseon, Friday, Jan. 27. Once the dust cleared the Streaks came away with a 39-34 win, avenging a season-opening 48-28 non-league loss to the Indians.

“This was a great win,” said Doug Krauss, AHS head boys basketball coach.

“Packed house, great atmosphere– it doesn’t get any better than this.

“You have to tip your hat to Wauseon. It was hard going, but I give our kids a lot of credit. We battled.

“I think this kind of game can help propel us to bigger and better things. What a great win for our kids.”

The Streaks improved to 11-4, 5-0 in league play. They remain tied with Delta atop the NWOAL.

The Indians dropped to 11- 2, 4-1 NWOAL.

AHS Leads 9-8 After One

The contest could not have been more even.

Archbold got on the scoreboard first. Gabe Rodriguez led the Archbold fast break and spotted Tyson Dietrich for two.

Wauseon countered with a baseline drive by Collin Bzovi.

Rodriguez answered with a three-pointer.

The Indians tallied backto back buckets by Wade Wooley and Alex Woten, but T. Dietrich calmed the Wauseon faithful with a jumper and Rodriguez, who finished with seven points, hit a jump shot for a 9-6 AHS lead.

Wooley ended the scoring for the quarter with a strong inside move for two, leaving the Indians trailing 9-8.

Wauseon Up 19-17 At The Half

The second stanza was a near mirror of the first.

Wooley started where he left off with a putback. T. Dietrich answered with a pair of foul shots.

The two squads went back and forth for the rest of the half with Wauseon gaining momentum and holding a 19-17 lead at the break.

Indians Build Lead To Four

Wauseon opened the scoring in the third period on buckets by Wooley and Woten.

Archbold countered, scoring the next five points. Luke Kammeyer drove the baseline for two, followed by a foul shot, and Zeb Frank turned a Wauseon turnover into two points.

Leading 23-22, Wauseon added to its total with a drive from Woten and a foul shot from Colin Dietrich for a 26-22 advantage at the end of three.

Streaks Take The Lead

Woten led the Wauseon scoring with 16 points. Wooley added 10.

Setting up the final eight minutes, T. Dietrich took control. The Archbold junior came out firing, nailing a three-pointer from the top of the key.

It wasn’t just the offense that started to click for Archbold; the defense that had pestered the Indians all night, forcing 18 turnovers, forced another turnover on Wauseon’s next possession.

“The turnovers are a credit to Archbold defensively,” said Chad Burt, WHS head coach. “We did not respond well to their pressure.

“Some of it may have been decision-making, but you have to give Archbold credit.”

T. Dietrich converted the Wauseon miscue into two more points.

The Indians finally broke their misfortune with a jumper from Woten to regain the lead at 28-27.

T. Dietrich hit a turnaround jumper and Kammeyer turned a Frank steal into two more for a 31-28 Archbold advantage.

Burt called for a time-out to regroup his squad. It paid dividends, as Woten hit a trey and tied the score with 1:25 left.

Frank, who had been quiet most of the night, quieted the Wauseon section, draining a three from downtown Archbold to give the Streaks back the lead at 34-31.

“Two huge shots in this game were (Tyson) Dietrich’s three at the top of the key after a time-out, and we come back with Zeb hitting a huge three,” said Krauss.

“(Tyson) Dietrich hit a huge three and a turnaround jump shot that were key shots for them,” said Burt. “I thought we were kind of taking control of the game a little bit, and that is what good players do– hit big shots.”

Rodriguez added two at the foul line for AHS. T. Dietrich hit a pair of free throws to up the lead to 38-31 with 27 seconds left.

The Streaks connected on 8-10 free throws. The Indians went 2-6.

“We got key rebounds and made key foul shots down the stretch,” said Krauss.

With time ticking away on the Indians, Woten put up a shot. After the officials met, Woten was awarded a three-pointer, narrowing the gap to 38-34 with 15 seconds left.

T. Dietrich hit a free throw, scoring 10 of his game-leading

18 points in the fourth quarter to seal the Streak victory.

“We had costly turnovers and had some looks we couldn’t knock down,” said Burt. “Give credit to Archbold. They made plays down the stretch and hit free throws late and put the game away.”

BOX SCORE

ARCHBOLD (39) - Rodriguez 7, Frank 5, Price 4, Kammeyer 5, Dietrich 18. Totals 14-8-39.

WAUSEON (34) - Dietrich 1, Bzovi 7, Woten 16, Wooley 10. Totals 15-2-34.

AHS	9	8	5	17	-	39
WHS	8	11	7	8	-	34

Reserve score: Archbold won 41-30.