Ottawa runs past Sandwich in first game of Plano Christmas Classic

PLANO – The last time Ottawa walked out of Plano’s gymnasium, the Pirates were hurting.

They should feel hopeful after running past Sandwich, 50-34, in Monday morning’s opening game of the 61st annual Plano Christmas Classic.

The Pirates (7-3) lost a nonconference game last Tuesday to the host Reapers despite leading by 16 points late in the first half.

“We had time to practice a lot, but the practices weren’t very good,” Ottawa senior Kyler Araujo said. “So it was good to get back to playing again and to come back here and get a win.”

Sandwich (1-8) had already dropped a 50-25 game to Ottawa on Dec. 4.

“I thought we played all right,” Sandwich coach Matt Chalfin said. “We didn’t hit our shots (this morning). I think having Quinn (Rome) back, he missed the first game against them, helped. He made some really good looks and those two Romes (brothers) were scoring pretty good, but (Ottawa) locked in defensively on them like they can.”

Sandwich junior Griffin Somlock knocked down a three-pointer to draw Sandwich even at 22-22 with 1:51 left before halftime.

Those final two minutes were pivotal ones as Aric Threadgill knocked down a three-pointer with 53 seconds left before the break while Araujo converted a three-point play after a nice drive to the basket with 21.7 seconds left to make it 28-22.

Araujo would find himself with the ball in the lane early in the third quarter. After looking quickly toward the permitter for options, he kept it himself, banking it it in for a 32-23 lead.

The lead grew to double digits at 38-27 after Hezekiah Joachim’s three-pointer with 2:55 left in the third quarter.

The Pirates then forced a turnover and Dom Parks dropped a floater from in the lane to make it 40-27.

Dom Rome had a three-point play with 1:14 in the quarter to pull Sandwich to within 40-31, but the Pirates wouldn’t lead by anything less than nine points the rest of the way.

Sandwich shot just 35% (12-of-34) from the field while Ottawa was 44% (16-of-36).

“They just made more shots than we did,” Chalfin said. “We really got some good looks there that sometimes we hit and sometimes we don’t. But they just hit a few more shots than we did and we started inching away. And credit to them because defensively they are one of the best teams in the area.”

Junior Owen Sanders led the Pirates with 18 points and Araujo had 13 points. Sanders grabbed 9 rebounds and senior Evan Snook collected 7 rebounds as Ottawa dominated the glass, 28-15.

The senior Rome brothers led the way for Sandwich. Dom Rome had 10 points and Quinn Rome had 9 points. Somlock had 8 points.