Colin White of Ottawa-Glandorf slam dunks the ball against St. Marys during Friday’s game at St. Marys Memorial High School.
ST. MARYS — Sometime the most obvious answer is the right answer.
When Ottawa-Glandorf needed points in the fourth quarter to hold off St. Marys in a matchup of two of the leaders in the Western Buckeye League boys basketball standings on Friday night, it got the ball to all-state, Ohio State recruit Colin White.
The 6-foot, 6-inch senior scored 13 of the Titans’ final 15 points in a 74-65 win over the Roughriders in a contest they led by only three points with 2 1/2 minutes to play.
White finished with 31 points, and Caden Erford had 22 points, including three 3-pointers, for O-G (10-1, 3-0 WBL).
Evan Angstmann led St. Marys (7-3, 2-1 WBL) with 26 points, including eight 3-pointers.
“It (the basketball) just kind of came to me,” White said when asked if he set out to dominate the scoring in the final minutes.
But once the ball came to him, he had full confidence in what he could do.
“I feel it’s kind of my time to take over a game if it’s a close game. With the ball in my hands I feel confident, and my teammates put the ball in my hands and trust me to do that,” he said.
“I’ve got a lot of great teammates. I passed it out (earlier in the game) and Caden hit a lot of open shots, Grant (Schroeder) hit some open shots. I trust my teammates fully.”
After Angstmann hit his eighth 3-pointer to cut Ottawa-Glandorf’s lead to three points at 64-61 with four minutes left in the game, White scored the Titans’ last 10 points on a 10-footer, a drive to the hoop, another drive, a steal which led to his second dunk of the night and finally a put-back of his own miss. Earlier in the quarter he connected on a 3-pointer.
Looking at the 53 points White and Erford combined to score, O-G coach Tyson McGlaughlin said, “Those two are really, really good players and have been so good to our program. They love the big moment; they make big plays at big times, and you need your leaders to do that.”
Ottawa-Glandorf led 37-36 at halftime after both offenses had the upper hand against the defenses. St. Marys shot 62 percent and made six 3-pointers in the first two quarters. O-G shot 55 percent and made five 3-pointers.
“Give them credit, they made a lot of shots, but I just didn’t like our defensive effort. We were really flat. They hit a couple shots early, and it gave them a lot of confidence,” McGlaughlin said.
White said, “They hit shots, and we weren’t really locked in defensively. Who knows what it was? We weren’t there, weren’t focused. But we picked it up in the second half and kind of took a little more pride defensively.”
Ottawa-Glandorf and Shawnee, a 67-43 winner over Defiance on Friday night, are now the only WBL teams without a league loss.
“WBL wins on the road are not easy to get, and we’re just happy to get out of here with one,” McGlaughlin said.
Ottawa-Glandorf 74, St. Marys 65
Score by quarters:
Ottawa-Glandorf 21 16 20 17 —74
St. Marys 20 16 16 13 — 65
OTTAWA-GLANDORF
Colin White 31, Caden Erford 22, Grant Schroeder 8, Grady Toumazos 6, Alex Wagner 5, Brody Fortman 2. Totals: 29-9-74.
ST. MARYS
Evan Angstmann 26, Alex Hoenie 13, Jace Turner 5, Noah Payne 4, Cobain Owens 8, Brennan Steger 9. Totals: 24-7-65.
3-point shots: OG — Erford 3, White 2, Schroeder 1, Wagner 1; SM — Angstmann 8, Hoenie 1, Steger 1.
Records: Ottawa-Glandorf 10-1, 3-0 WBL; St. Marys 7-3, 2-1 WBL.
