Fulton County Ohio Media

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Fouled with 0.9 seconds left in the game while attempting a desperation game-winning three-pointer, Swanton point guard Evan Reinhard, his team trailing by two points, did it the hard way and calmly swished all three free throws to give the Bulldogs an almost implausible 49-48 victory over the visiting Delta Panthers on Friday night at the Kevin J. McQuade Gymnasium. Reinhard’s heroics ended a wild finish in the final three minutes of the contest that saw one tie and six lead changes on the scoreboard.

Swanton had fallen behind by as many as 13 points in the first half as Delta, led by NWOAL leading scorer Tyson Bower (25+ ppg), came out strong offensively and defensively.  The Panthers held Bulldog big Charlie Wood to just four points in the first two quarters.  However, Logan Young drained a three-point shot at the buzzer to pull Swanton within 30-20 at the half.  The timely basket shifted the momentum to the Bulldogs heading into the third quarter.

The Swanton offense got untracked, scoring 14 points while shutting down the Delta offense, allowing only six points, just two from Bower after he had 12 in the first half.  Entering the fourth quarter with the Panthers ahead 36-34, the Bulldogs were able to tie the game at 41-41 with a Wood layup at the 2:50 mark.  Bower gave the lead back to Delta with a baseline jumper 18 seconds later.

Both teams missed scoring opportunities until Reinhard hit a triple to give Swanton it’s first lead of the contest, 44-43 with 1:08 showing on the clock.  Another Bower baseline shot put Delta back on top 45-44 with 1:00 remaining.  Wood responded with a bank inside to put the Bulldogs up 46-45 at with 42.1 left only to see the unstoppable Bower hit his third consecutive shot at the 29.7 mark for a 47-46 Panther advantage.  Unable to score with time running out, Swanton was forced to foul Brady Morr who made one of two free throws, putting Delta up 48-46, setting the stage for the chaotic finish that gave the hometown Bulldogs the win.

Wood led the Bulldogs with 16 points.  Brady Haselman scored nine and Brady O’Shea had eight.  Bowers led all players with 23 points while Brady Morr tossed in 10.  The win places Swanton’s NWOAL record at 1-3 and 9-8 on the year.  They next travel to Defiance on Tuesday in a meeting of the Bulldogs.  Delta suffers their first league loss and sits at 2-1 with an overall record of 8-8.  They return home on Tuesday to face the Evergreen Vikings.

Delta Panthers:  19-11-6-12 = 48   Tyson Bower (23), Brady Morr (10), Alex York (7), Walter Hallet III (3), Vincent Martinez (2), Kade Lintermoot (2), Wyatt Gibbons (1)

Swanton Bulldogs:  13-7-14-15 = 49   Charlie Wood (16), Brady Haselman (9), Brady O’Shea (8), Logan Young (6), Evan Reinhard (6), Adam Lemon (4)

Click on the link to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Evan Reinhard at the foul line