Panthers Win Sectional Game For First Time In Eight Years
BY KYLE BORCHERS — MIRROR SPORTS
Maumee and Bryan hooked up for a dandy in the opening round of the Division II boys basketball tournament at Swanton last Tuesday.
Bryan (11-10) had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but Maumee (7-14) held on for a 50-47 win, as solid contributions from several Panthers were the difference.
“Any time you can advance in the sectional, it’s huge,” said Maumee coach Derek Sheridan.
Both teams held five-point leads at one time in the first half, before Maumee went up 32-24 with 4:55 remaining in the third quarter.
The Golden Bears, though, got within two points three times, 43-41 with 4:18 to go in the fourth, and finally, 49-47 with 1:37 left in the contest.
After a Maumee turnover, Bryan missed a 3-pointer for a chance to take the lead with about a minute remaining.
Junior Anthony Barnum then made it 50-47 at the foul line with 47 seconds left.
The Golden Bears grabbed an offensive rebound and called timeout with 28 ticks on the clock.
Maumee then got a steal that probably should have equaled a game-clinching layup, but the Panthers turned it over on a fast break – and Bryan again called timeout with 11 seconds remaining.
A long, open 3-pointer was off the mark with the clock expiring, however, and senior Jon Hall grabbed the rebound and dribbled toward the Maumee end of the court for the win.
Although the Panthers had been playing in Division I up to this point, the triumph over Bryan is the first tournament win for Maumee’s boys basketball team since 2002.
“We knew coming in that Bryan was good,” Sheridan said. “It was great for our kids – a good win, especially seeing how we were the lower seed.”
Barnum paced the Panthers with 15 points and seven rebounds.
The 6-foot-6 junior, who missed last year’s tournament because of a late-season injury, showed up big-time versus Bryan, with 14 points in the first half.
Classmate Tyler Martin was also key to a good early start that had Maumee in front early. After a Martin putback made it 4-0, an assist from Martin to Barnum for the second time made it 6-3.
Still, Bryan ended up leading 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Senior Damon Contat made a nice spin move off an inbound pass to put the Panthers back on top, 16-15, early in the second.
A pair of Barnum putbacks widened it to 20-15. Maumee went to the locker room up 22-19.
Martin had all five of his rebounds before halftime, while Barnum blocked two shots and Hall had two assists.
Bryan junior Zach North nailed a trey to tie the game early in the second half, but a three-point play by Martin gave the lead back to the Panthers.
After a triple by senior Steven Boyd, Hall leaked out for a layup to provide the aforementioned 32-24 advantage.
Contat controlled the paint the rest of the period, with two buckets in the final 2:40, to keep Bryan at bay heading to the fourth, 36-31.
Boyd and sophomore Jake Schneider stepped up early in the fourth.
Boyd hit his third trey of the night early in the stanza and another bucket that got it to 43-38. In between, Schneider fought inside for two offensive rebounds and an eventual putback.
Later in the fourth, junior Jordan Lane had an important stick-back to make it 45-41, and Hall hit a pair of free throws to balloon the lead to six.
Senior Alex Nossaman was there for Bryan basically every time the Golden Bears needed a basket, scoring seven points in the fourth (he cut it to 43-41, 47-45 and 49-47), but it wasn’t enough.
Nossaman finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. North scored 13.
Meanwhile, Maumee held sharpshooting junior Matt Wisler to only three points before halftime. Wisler put in seven in the fourth quarter to end up with 12. He also had four steals.
Also for the Golden Bears, senior Braxton Snavely and junior Caleb Turnbull both had five boards. Bryan, however, really didn’t get any production past its starting five.
“You are absolutely correct – everyone who played for us contributed,” Sheridan said. “Bryan rarely subs – that is their way of doing things.”
Boyd finished with 12 points, and his defense on Wisler was instrumental, giving up few open looks from outside.
“Boyd’s defense was top notch – he was tremendous,” Sheridan said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better job.”
Contat ended up with eight points and six off the glass. Hall scored all six of his points after halftime.
“Barnum and Contat were very aggressive inside and finished plays,” Sheridan said. “Establishing an inside presence early was huge for us.”
Maumee won the battle of the boards, 28-24. The Panthers committed 11 turnovers, to Bryan’s nine.
The Golden Bears hit five treys, while Maumee had three. Both teams shot well from the foul line: Bryan 8-for-9 and Maumee 7-for-10.

Defiance Basketball Team Lives Up To Billing, Boots Maumee From Sectional
BY KYLE BORCHERS — MIRROR SPORTS
A stagnant offense in the second quarter seemed to shoot down any chances Maumee may have had in a Division II sectional final versus state-ranked and top-seeded Defiance (19-2) on Friday in Swanton.
Maumee led 11-10 on a putback by senior Damon Contat early in the second, but the Panthers (7-15) didn’t score the rest of the half, trailing 22-11 at the break and 56-43 at the final buzzer.
“The second period was the big turning point,” said Maumee coach Derek Sheridan. “We had a very difficult time scoring and they made a run on us.”
Early on, the game had all the makings of a classic battle.
The two teams met in Maumee during the regular season, and the Panthers almost pulled off the upset of the undefeated Bulldogs, if not for a buzzer beater by sophomore Doug Herrett, so there was already a sense of rematch and revenge in the air.
The obvious differences in the schools – basically country boys versus city or suburban boys – also added to the mix.
There is also the fact that Maumee dropped down from Division I, so the intrigue of a traditionally larger school facing smaller schools thickened the plot, too.
Plus, playing in a league dominated with Division I schools, where the Panthers went 3-11, begs the question of how that translates: Are they more “battle-tested?”
Mix all that in with a sectional championship on the line and you have yourself an electric atmosphere.
Although the trip to Swanton is twice as long for Defiance fans versus Maumee’s faithful, the Bulldogs’ backers came out in droves, filling over three-fourths of a gymnasium that was nearly full. There was a huge difference in the student sections – Defiance’s was loud and stood the entire game, while Maumee’s was almost non-existent.
Hot shooting in the first quarter was the name of the game. Defiance hit its first three shots, including a 3-pointer, to go up 7-4.
Maumee, though, stayed right with the Bulldogs, and a trey by senior Steven Boyd tied it up.
Senior Alex Nofziger’s second straight from beyond the arc put Defiance back in front, and the Bulldogs led 10-9 going to the second.
Following Contat’s stickback that pushed the Panthers ahead, Defiance didn’t start to pull away until there was about three minutes left in the half.
Senior Dace Kime hit cutting classmate Steve Hammersmith to give the Bulldogs a 16-11 lead with 3:03 left, forcing a Maumee timeout.
With 1:02 remaining, Kime drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner to widen the margin to 20-11.
A steal and a layup by sophomore Anthony Kidston provided the 22-11 mark at the break.
Herrett swished a trey to open the second half, making it 25-11.
Contat scored Maumee’s first five points of the third quarter and he already had six rebounds on the night, three times as many as any Maumee player so far, trying to keep the Panthers in it.
A three-point play by sophomore Jake Schneider cut Defiance’s lead to 30-21 with 3:59 left in the third (a steal and a missed dunk by the Panthers could have made it 30-23).
Maumee got within eight points on a triple by senior Jon Hall but trailed 36-26 heading to the fourth.
Defiance led by 15 points almost midway through the final frame, before the Panthers cut it to 46-38 with 3:08 to go, but that’s as close as it would get.
“I felt like our boys did a nice job fighting back,” Sheridan said. “They played hard all the way to the end. I’m very proud of them.”
Boyd finished with 11 points, Hall scored 10 and Contat had nine.
Contat also grabbed seven rebounds and Hall had three steals. Junior Anthony Barnum blocked four shots.
Maumee committed 15 turnovers, while Defiance had 11.
The Bulldogs also outrebounded the Panthers 24-18.
Defiance hit 14-of-20 (70 percent) free throws, while the purple and gold went 8-of-15 (53 percent).
Hammersmith led the Bulldogs with 13 points and six boards. Nofziger scored 12 points, Kidston (three steals) ended up with 10 and Kime and Herrett both had nine.