Eastwood takes the driver’s seat in NBC

Considering that two losses came to the state’s No. 4 ranked Division II team, Rossford, and two others to Division III regional qualifiers Archbold and Ottawa-Glandorf, Eastwood’s 15-9 boys basketball season last year looked impressive.

“Some of our losses have been against quality opponents so hopefully those losses can benefit you,” Eastwood coach Todd Henline said. “By playing tough competition you learn some things.”

The Eagles finished second at 9-4 in the Northern Buckeye Conference last year but had losses to Elmwood and Otsego down the stretch. The Eagles qualified for the D-III district, where they fell to Cardinal Stritch, 75-65.

“We ended up finishing second in the league and finishing second behind Rossford is no slouch,” Henline said. “To be honest, our league, from No. 2 to No. 8, on any given night you could get knocked off. Each team took turns knocking each other off.”

This year, the Eagles were picked to win the NBC and they have already put themselves in the drivers’ seat, defeating Rossford 61-59 in overtime at George Wolfe Field House.

Eastwood 6-foot-2 senior forward Andrew Arntson scored on a rebound and put-back with 10 seconds remaining to propel the Eagles to a 61-59 overtime victory over the Bulldogs.

Eastwood 6-3 senior guard Jacob Meyer led all scorers with a double-double 24 points and 13 rebounds while Arntson had 18 points and four rebounds. The Eagles improve to 5-1 overall and are a perfect 3-0 in the conference.

Meyer performed the same trick as Arntson did at the end of regulation, scoring on a tip-in at the buzzer to tie the game at 55-55 and force overtime. It was the first sign that the Eagles were going to complete their comeback.

Rossford led 46-31 after three quarters, but the Eagles opened the fourth on a 12-0 run. Arntson was 4-for-7 from behind the arc, including hitting two treys to provide the Eagles’ first six points, and a trey to finish off the 12-0 run in the fourth quarter.

Eastwood shot 39% (21-for-54) from the field, 26% (5-for-19) from behind the arc and made 14 of 15 free throws (93%). 

Henline believes Elmwood will join Rossford and Eastwood as the top teams in the league. The game with Elmwood was pushed back because both teams had deep playoff football runs. But Henline believes that game could end as a thriller, too.

“To be honest, both of us should be pretty good,” Henline said. “We’re moving forward. We’ve got a lot of pieces this year. We just need to put them together, but we’re in for an enjoyable season.”

Henline says the non-league schedule is a big reason the Eagles are prepared for NBC play. He has his Eagles continuing to play Ottawa-Glandorf, Archbold, Port Clinton and Ottawa Hills. Eastwood has dropped Sandusky and picked up Bellevue, but he likes what O-G, Archbold and the Green Bears provide.

“Ottawa Hills always gives you a pretty good look. That’s kind of why I have them on their schedule because you have to handle their slow pace and be able to take care of the basketball against them, which is a good look for us,” Henline said.

The Eagles already defeated Archbold, 59-52. Eastwood took a 37-26 halftime lead over Archbold and held on, handing the Blue Streaks their first loss of the year. Arntson led Eastwood with 14 points, 6-5 senior center Gavin DeWese scored 13 and 6-1 senior guard Lake Boos hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch on his way to scoring eight points for the Eagles.

In another non-league win, Meyer had another 20-plus scoring night as the Eagles defeated host Oak Harbor, 59-33.

The only hiccup came when Bowling Green hit 16 of 21 three-point shots — shooting 76% from behind the arc, and held off Eastwood, 76-71.

The third quarter saw BG hit seven field goals, all from behind the arc, in scoring 22 points. The Bobcats did make one free throw in that quarter in building a 55-38 lead.

The Bobcats’ shooting percentage from behind the arc was better than inside the arc, where they were 9-for-29 (31%) and from the free throw line, where they made 10 of 16 (63%). Overall, the Bobcats shot 50% from the field (25 for 50).

The Eagles hit five fourth quarter treys, including three by 5-10 junior guard Case Boos, and scored 33 points to make it a two-possession game in the final 30 seconds. 

DeWese led all scorers with 21 points and seven rebounds, including 12 points in the third quarter, despite fouling out in the final minute of play.

Case Boos scored 15, senior guard Lake Boos scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds and 5-10 junior guard Tristan Schuerman came off the bench to score 10. 

Eastwood shot 44% (24-for-55) from the field and 16-for-20 from the charity stripe, including making all 14 free throws in the second half.

Although Meyer was in the gym early, Henline got most of his players at least a couple weeks late because of the football playoffs. However, Henline stresses that was a good thing.

“It’s a good position to be in because we’re having great success and great experiences and it does carry over to basketball,” Henline said. “It just makes it a little challenging getting the late start and getting on the same page. It’s a good trade-off.”