D3 SECTIONAL FINALS … Blade Walker takes a fade away jumper over the outstretched arm of a Paulding defender. VIEW 86 PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (March 1, 2024) – Wrong time, wrong place. Evergreen did what Evergreen does, turning over the Paulding Panthers 18 times compared to their miniscule six.
But what the Vikings did with those turnovers was uncharacteristic, as the Vikings shot just 10/46 (21%) and the Panthers stuck it at a 63% clip in a 56-36 Panther win to take a Division III sectional title.
Evergreen took an 11-10 late first quarter lead when Blade Walker nailed a left side triple, but Grady Barton’s three-point play and Casey Agler’s buzzer beating 40-footer put the Panthers up 16-11.
The lead grew to 11 at the half as Walker’s basket with 3:25 left in the second was the only Viking score in the quarter.
Meanwhile Kane Jones and Blake Rhonehouse each canned five points to give the Panthers a 28-17 halftime lead.
Drew Gillen and Walker turned three Viking misses into buckets on putbacks in the third, but Jones answered with 10 third stanza points to extend the margin to 44-30 heading into the fourth.
Jones led all Paulding scorers with 15 while Agler added 13 for a team that was 8/13 (61%) behind the three-point line as a part of their hot shooting night.
Walker had 12 points to lead Evergreen who bowed out of the tournament at 17-6 on the season. Paulding (15-9) moves on to the district tournament at Napoleon where they’ll face No. 2 Archbold (21-2) on Wednesday, March 6 at 7:30pm.
