Baylen Blockberger scores two of his game-high 23 points over Spencerville’s Trevor Whitney in Tuesday’s Division VI district semi-final. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Their defense, and of course, the leadership and scoring of Baylen Boockberger led Coldwater to a suprise win over #1-ranked Spencerville in the Wapakoneta district tournament.
Wapakoneta, OH – Heads turned, and heads drooped as the seconds ticked down on Tuesday night’s 49-40 Coldwater win over #1-ranked Spencerville in the Division VI district tourney semi-final at Wapakoneta High School.
Surprise?
Upset?
Columnist Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and Ohio State baseball for Press Pros Magazine.com.
“I don’t know,” said Coldwater point guard extraordinaire Baylen Blockberger. “They’re a basketball school and we’re a football school. We just like to compete.”
Which was the blueprint for Coldwater’s 16th win of the season, against 7 losses…hardly head-turning. They just competed. First with their recent air-tight defense, and of course, Blockberger once again proved to be the irresistible force with 23 points and another outstanding floor game against a very, very good basketball team.
“This is a veteran, senior team, and not much bothers them,” said Coldwater coach Nick Fisher. “All of them, Mason Welsch, Owen Kunk, Brady Lefeld, Cody Depweg, Miles (Pottkotter)…and of course, Bay (Blockberger) was fantastic again tonight.”
It’s true that not a lot seems to bother Coldwater, who after falling behind 4-0 in the opening minute resolutely put the ball in Blockberger’s hands and good things started to happen. He quickly scored 6 points and facilitated another 6 from Owen Kunk and Mason Welsch and the Cavaliers had a 12-8 first quarter lead.
Coldwater’s defense (Owen Kunk and Brady Lefeld) bottles up Spencerville’s Owen Sensabaugh. To his credit, Sensabaugh finished with 15 points.
Spencerville had plenty of firepower of their own with the Sensabaugh brothers, Will and Owen, but neither could get the running start that they’d grown accustomed to during the course of their 20-win regular season. Coldwater’s defense saw to that, limiting their options and defending every shot taken.
And to their credit, by night’s end the Sensabaughs would account for 28 of the Bearcats’ 40 points. But Spencerville could only scratch together 15 by halftime as Coldwater went to the locker room with a six-point advantage, 21-15.
“I was thrilled that we could hold them to 15 points in the first half,” said Fisher, afterwards, doing the math. That’s about 15 less than they’d averaged for the season.
And Coldwater began the second half where they had left off, with a three-pointer at the buzzer by Landon Knapke that clearly gave them the momentum. They quickly scored the half’s first four points and went on a 7-4 run that gave them a 28-19 lead.
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But just as quickly, Spencerville turned the table and had their own 9-0 run to tie at 28-28, and send their partisan crowd into a frenzy. Nick Fisher called a timeout.
“I just told them that we have be more fundamental with our defense, and we had some sloppy turnovers. We needed to tighten those things up,” he said.
Coldwater’s Cody Depweg breaks up a pass in the paint for Spencerville’s Carder Orr.
Tighten things up? Blockberger came out of the timeout with a 10-0 run of his own, capped by his only three-point shot of the night. And in the blink of an eye Coldwater had climbed back to 38-28 lead, holding Spencerville scoreless for the final two minutes of the third quarter.
But here’s the reality of Coldwater, Blockberger, and company.
Spencerville obviously determined to clamp down on Blockberger in the final eight minutes if they were to have a chance to win.
“He’s like an irresistible force,” a rival coach who was scouting later said. “He was not going to be denied. Special players can do that.”
Blockberger would not score another field goal in the fourth quarter, but he attracted enough attention to where he got the ball into the hands of Mason Welsch (6 pts), Owen Kunk (3 pts), Brady Lefeld (2 pts), and Caleb Schroer (2 pts). And while he couldn’t get baskets, Blockberger did get to the line – 6 times – where he converted on 5 of 6.
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It was slick. You hardly noticed the 7-2 run over the final two minutes because there were no three-pointers…just back-door cuts to the rim and free throws. Owen and Will Sensabaugh would counter with 7 points for the Bearcats, but could only stand and watch as Mason Welsch dropped in the game’s final points, undefended, as time ran out on their 49-40 win.
Blockberger’s 23 points led all scorers, while Mason Welschs had 12, Owen Kunk finished with 5, Brady Lefeld had 4, and Knapke and Schroer combined for 5 points.
Spencerville’s Owen Sensabaugh gave a desperation flip of the ball toward the basket as time ran out on the Bearcats’ season.
For Spencerville, Owen (15 pts) and Will Sensabaugh (13 pts) accounted for 28 of their 40 points. Carder Orr finished with 9 and Gavin Schwartz had 3.
How big a deal was it?
Well Fisher, who gets excited over old, comfortable boots, celebrated with his grandkids outside the Coldwater locker room.
And Blockberger, who just rolls with the moment, waited patiently to say, in so many words…we found a way to win!
“They’re a good team, we knew they were going to hit shots and go on runs,” he said. “We tried to match their energy, and when they had the 9-0 run we came out of the timeout and said, ‘We’re good. We’re fine.'”
And to Fisher’s point, age and experience means everything on nights like this one.
“It’s cool,” he added. “They’re a basketball school, we’re not, but football helps because we’ve been in so many big games. We’ve been in those situations and so we’re a little bit more loose. So tonight we found a way to win.”
Coldwater now plays a familiar opponent in Friday’s district final. Marion Local punched their ticket in the second game with a 40-30 win over New Bremen, setting up a rematch of their game three weeks ago on February 7. Marion Local won that game, 55-48, but they’ll take nothing for granted. Whether or not this is a different Coldwater team in the span of a month is immaterial.
You know they’re going to compete!
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