BOYS BASKETBALL: LCC’S TOUGHNESS UNMATCHED IN WIN OVER OTTAWA-GLANDORF

LIMA — Against a traditionally physical program such as Ottawa-Glandorf, Sean Powell instructed his team full of football players to carry that mentality onto the court with them. The end result on Saturday night was a 61-34 bully-ball victory, in which LCC outrebounded the Titans 30-16, led by its starters at quarterback, tight end, wide receiver, and tackle in the fall, complemented by leading scorer Jordan Priddy, a pure hooper, who turned in a 31-point effort. “They absolutely manhandled us for 32 minutes tonight,” Ottawa-Glandorf coach Tyson McGlaughlin said after his team fell to 6-1 on the year. “They’ve got some strong, athletic kids, and we allowed them to push us underneath the rim, and they came down with the ball. We tell our guys all the time that we’ve got to be the tougher team, and they were hands down tougher than us today.” LCC’s largest lead of the first half was 16 points after holding Ottawa-Glandorf to one made field goal for a total duration of 10 minutes between the late first quarter and the majority of the second. “We had seven kids who played football, who we’ve been trying to get back to being basketball players,” LCC coach Sean Powell said. “It’s been tough for us early, so I wanted them to go out there and play football. If they did that, then my skill guys, like Jordan (Priddy) and Hunter (Williams), can go out there and play the game and put the ball in the hole, while my football guys can just be as physical as possible.” Priddy turned in his fourth effort of at least 30 points this season with his second 31-point game, shooting 12 of 19 from the floor, including a 10-point first quarter and seven makes on his first eight shot attempts. Xavier Pernell also ended the night in double figures with 12, while Williams added seven points, all in the second half. “You know you’re not going to stop a guy like that completely,” McGlaughlin said of Priddy. “You have to make him earn it by making everything a tough, contested shot. I thought we did that at times but obviously, he’s super talented. There should be a lot of schools (colleges) that should be offering him. He made some big plays and we didn’t respond well tonight.” LCC (5-3, 1-1 NWC) did not allow Ottawa-Glandorf to score more than nine points in any quarter, winning the second half 34-18. The Titans, who shot 25% from the field as a team, didn’t have anyone in double figures, finishing the game with just three players with more than two points, led by Brody Fortman with nine. “I think tonight was probably our best defensive outing this season,” Powell said. “We try to buy into holding teams to 40 points. If you can hold a team to 40 points, we know we’ll always have a shot there at the end of the game.” Score by quarters O-G 9 7 9 9 – 34 LCC 18 9 15 19 – 61 OTTAWA-GLANDORF — Brody Fortman 4-10 9, Brayton Heitmeyer 2-7 7, Jordan Schumaker 3-10 7, Dawson Miller 2-4 5, Carson Yaeger 0-0 2, Nolan Duling 1-9 2, Royce Ellerbrock 1-4 2, Grant Leopold 0-2 0, Adam Maag 0-4 0, Total: 13/51 (25%) LCC — Jordan Priddy 12-19 31, Xavier Pernell 4-10 12, Hunter Williams 3-6 7, Brady Parker 2-6 5, Michael Quatman 2-2 4, Jaxon White 1-3 2, Dom McKee 0-3 0, Cole Mack 0-1 0, Brady Malcom 0-1 0, Total: 24/52 (46%) Rebounds — LCC 30; O-G 16 Turnovers — LCC 6; O-G 6 Records — LCC 5-3, 1-1 NWC; Ottawa-Glandorf 6-1, 2-0 WBL Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on X @Lima_Howell