Third quarter key in Ottawa’s title win over Streator at Dean Riley Shootin’ the Rock Thanksgiving Tournament

OTTAWA — After playing to a stalemate in the opening 16 minutes of Saturday’s championship game of the Dean Riley Shootin’ the Rock Thanksgiving Tournament at Kingman Gymnasium, the Ottawa boys basketball team got back to many of the things against rival Streator that have made it a tough team to beat during the first week of the season.

“I felt like in the first half we played more individually than as a collective unit and our guys realized that as well,” Ottawa coach Mark Cooper said. “We were very stagnate in the first half, so we needed to get back to having the ball moving and our players moving. I feel like we did that in the second half, especially in the third quarter, and consequently good things happened for us. We have to learn how to close out games a little better and you hope you are in those situations like we were tonight to gain that experience.”

“We didn’t change anything as far as the game plan goes (in the third quarter), I just feel we started doing all the little things better than we were.”

—  Owen Sanders, Ottawa junior forward

The Pirates (4-0) used 7-0 runs early and late in the third quarter, then netted the opening six points of the fourth to eventually capture the title with a 54-38 victory over the Bulldogs (3-1), snapping a three-game losing streak to their rivals.

“With Coach Riley’s name on this tournament, it has a special meaning for everyone associated with Ottawa boys basketball,” Cooper said. “He would think very highly of this group, and this would be his type of team.”

Deadlocked at 17 after a grind of a first half, two buckets by Aric Threadgill and a 3-pointer by Owen Sanders gave Ottawa a 27-20 lead. Then after the teams traded points over the next three minutes, two free throws by Hezekiah Joachim, a 3-point play by Kyler Araujo and a 15-foot jumper by Threadgill put the hosts up 38-27 heading to the fourth quarter.

Ottawa started the final period with a layup by Threadgill, a rebound hoop by Evan Snook and a drive by Joachim to push the advantage to 44-27 with just over three minutes to play.

Sanders led Ottawa with a game-best 20 points to go along with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Joachim and Threadgill added 10 points each while Snook had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

“Coach Cooper talked at halftime about how we needed to stay consistent with our defense and rebound but needed to get back to running the offense as a team,” Sanders said. “We didn’t change anything as far as the game plan goes (in the third quarter), I just feel we started doing all the little things better than we were.

“I feel like we had a pretty good first week. It’s exciting to win this tournament, but we all have to just keep working to get better.”

Streator closed the gap to 46-35 over the next minute on two baskets by Noah Lukach and two free tosses each by Isaiah Weibel and Matt Williamson, but Ottawa countered with four points from Threadgill to put the game away.

Lukach had 11 points and six rebounds to lead Streator, while Williamson had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Blaize Bressner also swished a trio of 3-pointers for nine points and Weibel chipped in six points and four rebounds.

Ottawa outshot Streator for the game 44.7%-29.3%, held a 35-25 margin in rebounds and won the turnover battle 16-11.

“We talked about wanting to put heat, put pressure on them defensively, but Coop did an excellent job of getting out of their traditional offense and spreading the floor a little more,” Streator coach Beau Doty said. “We just didn’t have a consistent burst of ball pressure we needed, and they were way to comfortable with the ball in the second half.

“After trading 3s to start the second half they were able to put together a little run, we fought back a little, but then they hit us with another burst at the end of the third and start of the fourth. We couldn’t buy a basket, they had good offensive possessions, and all of a sudden, we went from down four to 14 in a blink of an eye and there was three minutes to go.

“I thought we had a very good tournament and learned a lot about the type of team we can be. We just fell a little short of our goal tonight.”

Ottawa hosts Sandwich on Wednesday. Streator is on the road at Herscher on Friday.