Wapakoneta’s Caleb Adams scores in the final two minutes to help the Redskins to a 44-41 win Saturday win over Jackson Center. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Wapakoneta overcame a halftime deficit and some hometown emotions to win the final six minutes, knocking off 11-2 Jackson Center, 44-41.
Wapakoneta, OH – At the top of the bleachers in Wapakoneta Saturday night Jackson Center Athletic Director Scott Elchert sat with a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes.
One would have assumed, correctly, the former coach of the Tigers had a rooting interest, for sure. Jackson Center entered the boys basketball game with Wapakoneta with an 10-2 record and a seven-game win streak.
The Minster Bank proudly sponsors your favorite sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
And, two of Elchert’s former players were the head coaches of the respective rosters – Aaron Klopfenstein, Elchert’s former protege’ and assistant coach at Jackson Center and now the man in charge…and his son Trey, who’s in his fourth year as head coach at Wapakoneta.
“It’s not the most comfortable situation,” Elchert expressed, the competitive instinct still very much alive after his retirement from coaching following the 2023 season. He won 430 games during his acclaimed career…370 at Jackson Center.
And it got increasingly uncomfortable, as Jackson Center lost a slim halftime lead in the second half, scored just 18 points, and ultimately fell to Wapakoneta (6-8), 44-41.
Jackson, who’s had some ups and downs this season behind 6’6″ post man Reed Platfoot, scored 27 of its 41 points from three-point range, and 18 in the first half, true to the old adage. “If you live by the three-point shot you’ll die by the three-point shot,” It became manifest again as their reliance on outside shooting would haunt them over the final sixteen minutes of the game.
They led 23-21 at the break, but only because guard Lucas Heitkamp banked in a three-pointer from the top of the key as the horn sounded.
Jackson Center’s Reed Platfoot hit an opening three-pointer, then led the Tigers with 15 points.
Then, they opened up a six point advantage in the first four minutes of the third quarter, only to see Wapakoneta’s full court pressure cost them turnovers and empty possessions while the Redskins outscored them 11-8 for the quarter and take a 32-31 lead entering the fourth.
In the final eight minutes Jackson Center would cash in on three-pointers from Platfoot and Heitkamp, and close to a single point. But Wapakoneta’s Trent Lisi answered with a three-pointer of his own while teammates Caleb Moyer and Caleb Adams effectively put the game away at the foul line…the Redskins hitting 7 of 10 to creep out to a 44-41 lead. With three seconds left on the clock and the ball out of bounds, Reed Platfoot’s 60-foot heave and prayer for a tie came up short.
The Allenbugh agency, of Jackson Center, Ohio, is a proud supporter of Shelby County League sports on Press Pros. Call us today.
For Scott Elchert it was emotional. One for the fact of his coach and his team being on the losing end of the score.
Two, for the fact of there being a family ‘feud’ quality to the game itself. Both Klopfenstein and Trey Elchert played high school basketball for him at Jackson Center – one a fraternal son, and the other…flesh and blood.
The game itself, to Klopfenstein and the junior Elchert, ended as basketball games end.
“We knew that Coach Elchert was going to put a good scouting report together and game plan against us,” said Klopfenstein. “Obviously their plan was that there would be nothing too easy inside. It forced us to take some three-point shots and they weren’t falling for us tonight like they have on other nights.
“We had some shots we missed in the first half, in close, and it’s nobody’s fault, nor were those shots influential. Sometimes they ball bounces the way you want it to and sometimes it doesn’t. There were eighty other plays that if you get a stop here or there it can turn out to be a different ballgame.”
Trey Elchert would manage a winning smile while appreciating the awkwardness – the pain – within the fraternal circle of Jackson Center basketball, and his own family.
“A lot times as a coach you immediately go to how the other coach feelswhen there’s such a close relationship. For a couple of years it was Dad. Now the last couple of years it’s been Aaron (Klopfenstein). He’s one of my best friends and you feel for him in the other locker room.” – Trey Elchert
“The game plan was to make them shoot the threes, and obviously you have to find a way to slow down Platfoot,” he said. “He got fifteen tonight, but for the most part our kids executed what we needed to do against him. We had some breakdowns early in the game, but from the second quarter on we rebounded the ball well and executed our defense.
“We were able to have multiple people score tonight, and that’s something we’ve been looking for. We’ve had those nights ourselves when we only had a couple of guys putting the ball through the hoop. And that makes it different to win basketball games.”
To his point, Reed Platfoot (15 pts), Preston Serr (11 pts) and Lucas Heitkamp (10) accounted for 36 of Jackson Center’s 41 points.
Caleb Moyer led Wapakoneta with 16 points, but four other Redskins accounted for the remaining 28 of their 44 points.
“You know that Aaron (Kopfenstein) is one of my best friends,” Elchert smiled as he reflected on the irony of playing against family, friends, and your former school. “There’s good and bad with playing against them. The good is when you come out a winner because you’re a competitor and you want to win the game.
Huffer Chiropractic has offices in Osgood, Dublin and Jackson Center to help your athlete become elite.
“But a lot times as a coach you immediately go to how the other coach feels, especially when there’s such a close relationship. For a couple of years it was Dad. Now the last couple of years it’s been Aaron. He’s one of my best friends and you feel for him in the other locker room. You’re happy for your guys, but you think of the other guy, for sure.”
“We knew that Coach Elchert was going to put a good scouting report together and game plan against us,” – Aaron Klopfenstein
Before he left the gym the paternal figure in all this took the time to share his own thoughts about the game, and what amounted to being – literally – a family feud in shorts and sneakers.
“Well, these two guys really helped to get things going for us…years ago, now,” he began. “And I’m just glad tonight’s over with. This was gut-wrenching for me, to be honest, and it’s still gut-wrenching.
“It was kinda’ cool for a couple of years when I was still coaching, to coach against Trey. But last year, when I was out and it was Aaron and Trey coaching against each other, my wife and I got home, we looked at each other and said, ‘Oh, that was horrible.’ Only out of obligation were we here tonight because we really didn’t want to watch the game. It’s a lose-lose for us. It’s been the toughest part of me being out of coaching. Now I feel their pain every time something doesn’t go right for them…both of them.
“I’m a very biased person, but I think they’re two very fine coaches in their own right. They do things the right way. They’re easy for me to pull for.”
And for anyone who loves basketball, youth, and basketball, alike…are served.
Bunny’s Pharmacy, in downtown Sidney, supports the Shelby County League on Press Pros.