Boys basketball: In the 250th meeting, Ottawa tops La Salle-Peru

OTTAWA – To say that Friday’s 250th meeting between the boys basketball teams from Ottawa and La Salle-Peru was much like many in the past would be pretty accurate.

Both the Pirates and Cavaliers took turns grabbing and holding the momentum, but Ottawa broke open a tie game with a key 12-2 run in middle of the fourth quarter to secure a 56-45 Interstate 8 Conference victory in front of a nice crowd at Kingman Gymnasium on senior night.

Ottawa has now won eight of the past 10 meetings, while L-P holds the all-time series lead at 141-109.

“Everyone contributed to the win tonight, and right from the start with Jonathan [Cooper] drilling the 3-pointer to start the game,” said Ottawa senior guard Levi Sheehan, who scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter and dished out four assists. “In the break before the fourth quarter, coach [Mark] Cooper stressed that we needed to be much better on both ends of the floor than we had been in the third quarter, and he was right.

“I felt like we did the things we are supposed to do, make good passes, and cut hard without the ball in the fourth.

“It was a great night all around, especially for us seniors. This is one we will remember the rest of our lives.”

Senior Payton Knoll had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Pirates (13-12, 9-4 I-8), with Cooper Knoll adding nine points and Huston Hart eight.

L-P led 13-6 after the first quarter, but Ottawa, behind 52% shooting and 6 of 9 from beyond the arc, used a 22-4 second quarter to hold a 28-17 halftime lead.

“We were able to get out to a nice halftime lead, and we really shot the ball well in the first half,” Mark Cooper said. “But then L-P had a good third quarter to get the game tied up.”

Seth Adams scored 11 of his game-high 16 points in the third quarter for the Cavaliers, including hitting three 3s, the last tying the game at 33-all at the buzzer.

In the opening couple of minutes of the fourth, a drive by Sheehan and two free throws by Cooper Knoll were offset by a layup by Adams and baseline drive by Josh Senica (10 points, six rebounds) to knot the score at 37-all.

Payton Knoll then scored on a floater in the lane, followed by consecutive hoops by Sheehan and Cooper Knoll.

A Senica 15-foot jumper cut the Cavs’ deficit to 43-39 with 3:30 on the clock.

Then over the next 1:15, Sheehan scored on a drive and swished a pair of free throws, while Payton Knoll scored off another floater to push the Ottawa lead to 49-39.

“I thought our level of execution went up from the mid-fourth quarter on offensively,” coach Cooper said. “We weren’t getting the looks we needed to get in the third, but when it got to the point where the game was hanging in the balance, we ran very good offense, got the shots we wanted and then put them in.

“I’m happy for the seniors to be able to close out their careers here at Kingman with a win.

Ottawa honored its seven seniors – Sheehan, Cooper, Payton Knoll, Conner Price, Aiden Mucci, Trace Roether and Matt Haerle – before the game.

La Salle-Peru fell to 16-13 overall and 5-8 in league play.

“Ottawa was much faster than us and executed better than us,” L-P coach Jim Cherveny said. “I think we gave everything we had. We had a nice spurt there in the third quarter to come back from 10 down to tie it up. I was proud of the guys for battling back and putting ourselves in a position to win tonight. Ottawa just did a better job of executing on both ends of the floor in the fourth quarter.

“I’m disappointed in the fact that I felt we found ourselves for a stretch tonight, but it just wasn’t long enough. We just weren’t able to put a complete game together and that is something you have to do, especially in a conference road game, to come out with a win.”

Both teams finish up regular-season and conference play Tuesday night. Ottawa travels to Sandwich, while La Salle-Peru hosts Rochelle.

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At Kingman Gymnasium, Ottawa

250th all-time meeting

Ottawa 56, La Salle-Peru 45

LA SALLE-PERU (45) — Caberra 1-5 3-6 5, Adams 6-11 0-0 16, Jereb 2-8 0-0 5, T. Hartman 1-1 0-0 2, Senica 5-10 0-0 10, M. Hartman 0-4 0-0 0, Boudreau 1-3 0-0 3, Madrigal 1-1 0-0 2, Olivero 0-1 0-0 0, Romagnoli 0-1 0-0 0, Bauer 0-0 0-0 0, Bollis 0-1 0-0 0, Van Duzer 0-1 0-0 0, Baldin 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 17-47 5-8 45.

OTTAWA (56) — Sheehan 5-8 5-5 15, Cooper 1-1 0-0 3, Haerle 0-0 0-0 0, Roether 0-1 0-0 0, P. Knoll 5-12 2-3 13, Price 1-3 1-2 3, Hart 3-6 0-0 8, Mucci 1-1 0-2 2, C. Knoll 2-7 4-4 9, Peterson 1-1 0-0 3, Shymanski 0-0 0-0 0, Kaufman 0-0 0-0 0, Henson 0-0 0-0 0, Goetz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-40 12-16 56.

La Salle-Peru (16-13, 5-8) 13 4 16 12 — 45

Ottawa (13-12, 9-4) 6 22 5 23 — 56

3-point goals — La Salle-Peru 6-21 (Caberra 0-3, Adams 4-6, Jereb 1-6, Senica 0-1, M. Hartman 0-2, Boudreau 1-1, Olivero 0-1, Romagnoli 0-1); Ottawa 6-13 (Sheehan 0-1, Cooper 1-1, Roether 0-1, P. Knoll 1-2, Price 0-1, Hart 2-4, C. Knoll 1-2, Peterson 1-1). Rebounds — La Salle-Peru 27 (Senica 6); Ottawa 25 (P. Knoll 5). Assists — La Salle-Peru 9 (Caberra 4); Ottawa 14 (Sheehan 4). Steals — La Salle-Peru 5 (Adams 3); Ottawa 5 (5 players with 1 each). Blocks — La Salle-Peru 3 (Boudreau 2); Ottawa 4 (P. Knoll 2). Turnovers — La Salle-Peru 10, Ottawa 7. Total fouls (none fouled out) — La Salle-Peru 14, Ottawa 11. Technical foul — Hart.