July 17, 2023
By Morgan Wenger
Tournament Director

Behind the dominant inside play of Sean’Say Tanner, NE Ohio breezed through pool play in the Biddy Ball division with a record of 3-0. NE Ohio defeated Puttin’ In The Work 30-15, Norwayne 30-3, and the Panthers 30-14. Other than that, the pool play games in this division were hotly contested.

The Panthers struck first as they outlasted Norwayne in their first game by a 30-29 count. Landyn Belknap led the way with 16 points for the Panthers, while Miles Takacs chipped in 11 points. Cole Gasser poured in a game high 19 points in defeat for Norwayne. Puttin’ In The Work turned the tables on the Panthers in the next game, riding Coy Lindeman’s 20 point explosion to a 30-29 victory. Landyn Belknap led the Panthers again with 14 points. Norwayne, behind a 15-point effort from Cole Gasser, clawed their way to a 27-21 victory over Puttin’ In The Work to force a three way tie for second place heading into bracket play. Hunter Stanton scored 10 points in defeat for Puttin’ In The Work.

NE Ohio's JR Wright drives to the basket against Puttin' In The Work's Coy Lindeman

With three teams so evenly matched heading into bracket play, the semifinal round was sure to bring a fierce battle between second seeded Norwayne and the third seeded Panthers. This game was a back-and-forth affair just like the pool play game between these two teams was, but this time Norwayne was able to squeak out a 30-26 victory to earn their spot in the championship game. Cole Gasser continued his assault on the basket for Norwayne as he sliced and diced his way to a 13-point effort. The difference this time around was the sharp shooting of his teammate Bryson Indorf. Indorf blistered the nets from outside the arc, knocking down three long balls as part of his 13-point effort to help push Norwayne over the top. Miles Takacs was pretty much unguardable for the Panthers. Takacs went down swinging, pumping in an impressive 16 points in defeat for the Panthers. Predictably, NE Ohio punched their ticket to the championship round as well with a 30-17 win against Puttin’ In The Work. Sean’Say Tanner scored twice from inside the arc and twice from outside of the arc as he led a balanced NE Ohio attack with 10 points. JR Wright (eight points), Griffin Siegenthaler (seven points), and Caiden Soss (five points) all contributed to the NE Ohio attack. Brady Neugebauer led the way for Puttin’ In The Work with six points.

With a 30-3 drubbing of Norwayne on their pool play resume, NE Ohio entered the championship game as heavy favorites. Norwayne had other ideas though. With Norwayne setting the tone early on, the championship game was a slugfest from start to finish.  Sean’Say Tanner, despite being the focal point of the Norwayne defense, was still able to muscle in 10 points to help his team. Norwayne was doing it by committee on offense in this game. After battling evenly throughout most of the game, NE Ohio forged ahead 28-22. All four Norwayne players (Cole Gasser (eight points), Bryson Indorf (eight points), Carson Gasser (six points), and Daniel Steiner (six points)) scored between six and eight points as they tried to pull off a late comeback to steal the division title. In the end, JR Wright came through with a game high 14 points to lead NE Ohio to a 30-28 championship game triumph.

NE Ohio (Caiden Soss, JR Wright, Sean'Say Tanner, Griffin Siegenthaler)

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