Yin and Yang:

Pandora - Yin and Yang: A Chinese belief of balancing opposites that are connected to each other. What does this have to do with Pandora-Gilboa's most recent basketball season? The boys and girls teams could not have been more opposite and yet the storylines for each team looked almost the exact same.

The Pandora-Gilboa girls basketball started the year with all the key pieces from the previous season. They had ended that season with a loss to Fort Jennings in the sectional finals continuing a playoff drought beginning in 2015. Led by a group of four seniors PG would start the year off hot getting a victory over rival Leipsic by a score of 50-33. 

Over on the boys side of the spectrum Pandora-Gilboa had zero returning letter winners and only 3.3%  of their points returning from their run to the Stroh Center for the regional semifinals. That's just 50 points from the entire 2023-24 season that would still be a member of the PG boys basketball team. Junior Cam Verhoff had 37 of those 50 returning points but his team's effort vs. Ayersville wouldn't be enough as the Pilots picked up a 52-48 victory in the opener.

The girls and boys team would get unexpected reinforcement in the offseason that would help lead them to victory. For the girls squad it was junior Kelsie Carlson who was a second team WBL selection last season at Bath who was able to average 9.0 points per game in her 11 games this season. The boys team had senior Lane Lee return after his stint with the Saint Anthony Falcons (Columbus Grove's CYO Team) his junior year. Lee would lead the team in points and steals all season long and ended with a second team BVC selection.

While sitting at 2-2 the girls basketball team was looking for early season momentum when Waynesfield-Goshen came into The Launchpad. This game was a back and forth affair but a big third quarter saw WG take home a 52-45 victory. However, after this game PG would go on a three game win streak that put them at a solid 5-3 record.

The boys basketball team was now 4-2 but had a difficult stretch of games coming up as they would play Patrick Henry, Kalida, Vanlue, and Miller City in four consecutive matchups. Pandora-Gilboa went 1-3 and were outscored by a margin of 56-37 in those four games. Sitting at 5-5 it felt as if the boys were at a turning point of the season where they could accept the challenge or fold.

Both teams had an opportunity to still claim at least a share of the Blanchard Valley Conference but would need to make sure the upcoming league games against solid opponents were victories. Around this point of the year is where both teams really embraced the underdog mentality. The girls program has historically been the underdog and the boys were still meshing as a unit, causing many outside the program to doubt each team.

The boys basketball team proved to play great as the underdog. Picking up three consecutive victories, the second of which was a huge upset win over Ottoville with a 39-35 score. This was PG's best game of the year as it seemed everyone played as a team and did their job, including "Clutch" Cam Verhoff who iced the game with free throws and Jack Buell who played great defense on Landon Horstman and made his first career three pointer to give PG their first lead of that game.

The girls basketball team would enter their roughest stretch of the season which would see them go 1-6 in seven games. This included losses to Liberty Benton and McComb, which essentially eliminated PG from BVC title contention. Ottoville and Fort Jennings also bested the Rockets in this streak, hurting their PCL record. After this they still had a very respectable 6-9 record.

Although each team had a solid senior core, it was the juniors who proved to be the difference. Cam Verhoff and Cory Gerten were the secondary and tertiary scores all season for the boys, Gerten was also the leading rebounder for the team. Their efforts earned them each honorable mention selections in the BVC, Verhoff would pick up the PCL honorable mention nod as well. For the girls, Ava Huffman and Savannah Knueven flipped who the leading scorer was all year and each ended the season averaging just over 12 points per game each. Huffman earned second team honors in both conferences. Knueven matched that in the BVC and added honorable mention in the PCL.

The coaches for each program could not be much more opposite. Cody Pelton took over the PG girls team just a year ago but has proven to be a phenomenal fit in his two years. Mike Lee is a 28 year veteran who started his head coaching career at Minster before ending up at Pandora-Gilboa five years ago. Both coaches have accomplished many things at PG in just a short amount of time. Head Coach Mike Lee found himself at 399 wins with nine more games to play in the regular season.

It would not be long before the boys team would earn their coach win number 400. Pandora-Gilboa beat the Continental Pirates 41-30 to move to 9-7 on the season.  Mike Lee credited all of his teams for this accomplishment and said that his group at PG this season was just as hardworking and tough as some of his best.

For the girls the winning would start back up and the momentum would never really stop. Pandora-Gilboa would fire off six wins in their next seven with the one loss coming to a 17-6 Kalida team who won their district. PG was outscoring opponents 47-33 within this span of games. The last victory of the regular season would be the most important, as with a 61-40 victory over Ada, PG picked up win 12 securing a winning record for the first time since 2017.

The boys were not as fortunate to close out their regular season as they would go on a six game losing streak. PG still looked like a good team in this streak with close losses against Van Buren and Leipsic. In the last game of the regular season PG fell to Liberty Benton 59-31 in a game where  LB took an early lead and never looked back. PG would end the regular season with a 9-13 record but hopes of a postseason run.

The girls basketball team would host their sectional finals matchup at The Launchpad against the Golden Gophers of Ridgemont. PG girls dominated in the second half of this sectional final and would claim a sectional title for the first time at PG since 2014. This 53-23 victory also was the first tournament victory for the Rockets since 2015.

At this point, each team now had revenge on their mind along with trying to keep their season alive. The girls team would have Waynesfield Goshen in the district semifinals while the boys would play Fort Jennings in the sectional finals. The ties between WG and PG are glaring as two of their assistant coaches used to be a Rockets coach and head coach Brent Farley is a former Pandora-Gilboa athletic director.  The boys would be playing FJ for the second time in eight days.

The girls team played a back and forth game against Waynesfield Goshen but by the end they found themselves with a 47-40 advantage as the clock hit all zeros. With this win Pandora-Gilboa found themselves in the district finals for the first time since 2010, when they won a district title before falling to Minster in the regional semifinals.

The boys team would also be in a game of runs later that week at The Fort, but it was Fort Jennings picking up a high scoring 69-56 victory. With this loss, the Rockets season was done. Seniors Matt Maag, Austin Maag, and Lane Lee, who all have given so much to the program, played their last game with Pandora-Gilboa. Mike Lee would end the year with a career record of 400-262 (60.4%) and a PG total of 86-54. 

Within 24 hours, the girls team at Pandora-Gilboa would be bested by a dominant Ottoville team 73-32. The Lady Green, ranked number three in the state, would cut down the nets for a district title for the 16th time in program history. During this ceremony, there was still a great celebration on the other end by Pandora-Gilboa as the four seniors: Lauren Teders, Maddie Rutschilling, Ciel Wise, and Devin Draper hoisted a district runner up trophy. It is only the forth ever district runner up trophy to be returned to The Launchpad along with two district championship trophies. Head Coach Cody Pelton is now 22-26 in his two years at PG with a good chance to get over .500 next season.

Just like that both 2024-25 seasons were over. And yet again the opposites tournament runs had the same stories weaved together. The boys lose to a PCL rival and even though it was an "average" season historically it still included the huge achievement of getting Mike Lee his 400th win. The girls also lost to a PCL rival however it was one of the best seasons in PG girls basketball history including a sectional title and district runner up award.

 Both teams should be highly proud about what they accomplished as they were the underdogs and found ways to play in very good basketball games and achieve great things.

There are many more examples of this similarity between opposites that aren't as important but could spark a fun memory from the season. For example, if you tuned into a broadcast on Putnam Sports Radio you probably heard about the Rockets shoe game as Cam Verhoff had his "grey" shoes which were painted that way by his mom to fit Coach Lee's standards or you heard about Ciel Wise's green and white Nikes that didn't fit the PG color scheme but stuck out in a positive way. 

You also had the cross country athletes showing up in big ways for each team as Jack and Adam Buell along with Cam Verhoff were starters for the boys team. Savannah Knueven, Maddie Rutschilling, and Ciel Wise were the three cross country starters for the girls basketball team.

The last similarity that it is important to discuss is the future. The seniors for each team showcased a great work ethic and dedication to the program that will be carried on to the next season. Each team also has a solid junior core ready to take over and try to match and build onto what was established by the class of 25. 

Both teams gave the Pandora-Gilboa community a lot of fun games to watch between good basketball teams. Everyone who watched, listened, or went to games will have great memories about what these teams were able to accomplish throughout the season. The 2024-25 Pandora-Gilboa girls and boys basketball seasons  will go down in PG history because of their great accomplishments and dedication to competing for the community and making them proud. 

Read more articles by Chase Dettrow