Elida’s Calan Henderson, left, and Daniel Unruh fight for a loose ball against Wapakoneta’s Gage Schenk during Friday night’s game at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
Wapakoneta’s Aaron Good puts up a shot during Friday night’s game at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
ELIDA — Elida was close to pulling away down the stretch.
But it never happened.
Wapakoneta’s defense clamped down and the Redskins overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Wapakoneta’s Aaron Good led the surge with 20 points to lead the Redskins to a 50-47 boys basketball Western Buckeye League game Friday night at the Elida Fieldhouse.
It was the first loss for Elida, which came in ranked No. 3 in the state in Division II.
Good scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. He hit the 3-pointer to put his team ahead and made 4 of 5 at the foul line.
“The whole mindset the entire game was defense,” Good said. “We’ve been lacking (defensive) intensity and we wanted to show some hard-nosed defense.’’
Good is the son of Reg Good, who played at Elida under former Elida coach Chris Adams.
“He (Reg) loves it. He looks forward to this game every year,” junior Aaron Good said. “I’m not going to brag to him. I know he’s a Wapak guy now, but I know he liked playing in the Fieldhouse.’’
Adam Scott, Wapak’s 6-foot-5 center, added 12 points and five rebounds.
Elida is 11-1, 2-1 in the WBL. Wapak is 10-3, 2-1 in the WBL.
“We stopped executing (when we were up 39-32),” Elida coach Denny Thompson said. “Our decision-making processes were non-existent. We had people shooting the ball, at that point and time, who shouldn’t have been and that led to baskets for them. And we had two turnovers in that stretch. … We lost focus in that stretch. And credit Wapak. They took advantage of our decision-making.’’
Donte Johnson had 12 points and six rebounds to pace Elida. He had eight points in the third quarter, all on power layups, but he didn’t score in the final quarter.
Daniel Unruh had 11 points with three 3-pointers. Isaac McAdams had 11 points.
Elida led 36-32 after three quarters.
When McAdams drilled a 3-pointer, the Elida lead grew to 39-32 with 5:45 to go.
Elida then went cold from the outside. That opened up the Wapakoneta rebound-and-run game.
The Redskins ripped off a 10-0 run to pull ahead 42-39 with 2:37 left. Good scored five during that spurt, including a three-point play.
“I thought we got some good defensive stops there,” Wapak coach Doug Davis said. “They took a couple of shots that I don’t think their coach wanted to see at the time, but from our perspective, it was defensive pressure that made those things happen.’’
Unruh’s 3-pointer tied the game at 42 with 2:37 left.
Back came Good, who sank a 3-pointer to give the Redskins the lead to stay 45-42 with 2:04 to go.
Good’s two free throws pushed the Wapak lead to 49-45 with 15 seconds left.
“We ran a couple of plays for him (Good) and he knocked down shots, then when they had to foul, we wanted the ball in his hands,” Davis said.
Elida then stole the inbounds pass and Calan Henderson’s layup made it 49-47 with 1.4 seconds to go.
Good’s one free throw finished it at 50-47 with less than a second left.
Davis also said a defensive key was switching the 6-5 Scott to guard Johnson in the fourth quarter.
Wapak’s Gage Schenk followed Unruh all over the floor and made him work for every shot.
Elida won the boards 31-23.
Wapak shot 42 percent from the field and was 7 of 16 on 3-pointers.
Elida hit 37 percent from the field and was 7 of 25 on 3-pointers.
Jace Copeland is back for Wapakoneta after his serious leg injury in football.
But out for the Redskins is starting guard Nick Schoonover, who suffered a cracked kneecap two weeks ago.
Wapak ran out to a quick 9-0 lead, as Elida started the game 0 for 6 from the field.
Elida got within 11-6 after the first quarter.
Wapak built its lead to 17-8 after back-to-back 3-pointers by Brady Erb.
Back came Elida.
The Bulldogs’ offense finally got in sync and ripped off a 10-0 run. During that streak, Henderson sank two straight 3-pointers.
Elida went into halftime with a 23-22 lead.
The win puts Wapak back in the WBL race.
“We’re on the rise,” Good said.
Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
