Brandt's big fourth quarter carries Vikings past CG, win 59-52.

LEIPSIC — It's strange to say that a player had an off night through three quarters when that player had 16 points at the end of the third. Sixteen points is a great number for almost all players in high school basketball. It's a little different, though, when that player is Leipsic senior and University of Findlay basketball signee, Mason Brandt. He saved his best quarter for last, as he scored 19 of his team's 21 points in the final frame and finished with a game-high 35 points in the Vikings come-from-behind 59-52 win over Columbus Grove Friday. "I knew we were down going into the fourth quarter down four, and I knew I was going to have to take over," Brandt said. "My teammates did such a great job of screening for me, getting the ball to me down the stretch— and the free throws down the stretch were huge." The Vikings (6-3, 2-1 NWC, 3-1 PCL) were down most of the first half and all of the third quarter before Brandt worked his magic. They were down 43-39 heading into the last quarter. No surprise to his coach that he's the one to propel them to victory. "Mason's a special player and that's obvious, but he really stepped it up after a few nights where he didn't shoot the ball as well as he's been able to," Leipsic head coach Chris Kuhlman said. "He accepted the challenge and really played well. Big players make big shots — and not just shots, but big plays — and he made a ton of big plays." Grove (6-4, 1-2 NWC, 2-1 PCL) controlled the tempo of the game through the first three quarters and held Leipsic's best player in check. That changed with about six minutes left, when Brandt knocked down a 3-point jumper that kick-started a 12-2 run by the Vikings to put them up 50-45 with about three minutes to go. A three-pointer by CG's Bo Birnesser — who finished with a team-high 13 points — stopped the run to make it 50-48 with 2:47 left. And, of course, Brandt answered the bell — again — with a fadeaway jumper as he was falling to his right and was fouled. The and-one was made, Leipsic was up 53-48 with a little more than a minute left. After some Brandt free-throws and missed opportunities by Grove, the Vikings were able to hold on and pick up the seven-point win. "It didn't matter what we did if you're going to hit a fadeaway 20-footers and stuff like that, I don't know what to tell you," CG head coach Chris Sautter said. "Every time we bumped him, he ended up at the free-throw line. "He's a nice player, but I think we lost that game at the other end of the floor because if we get some buckets, it might change some things offensively." Grove was outscored 21-9, had four turnovers, and shot just 5 of 15 from the floor in the final period of play. "We needed a couple of guys to step up that have been good for us all year that weren't tonight, need to be better," Sautter continued. "We did get some good play out of some players, but there's a lot of room for improvement. We still have some guys that are trying to figure some things out, but is what it is." After — for Brandt's standards -- an off-night from the floor, things changed for not only Brandt but also what Leipsic did on offense in the second half. "We took him off the ball. He's normally our point guard, but we went with a couple other guys bringing the ball up the floor," Kuhlman said about what changed. "We got Quin Schroeder — who's a really good point guard for us, but he's a sophomore and we lean on Mason— but I talked to Quin and said 'Hey, you're going to have to bring the ball up, it's going to help with Mason.'" "(I was able to) finish around the rim, making shots, making contested shots," Brandt said. "In the first half, I struggled finishing around the rim and I started to pick it up in the fourth quarter." Picked it up indeed. COLUMBUS GROVE (6-4, 1-2 NWC, 2-1 PCL) Birnesser 5-0—13, Sautter 5-0—11, Bellman 5-0—10, Reynolds 4-0—10, Schroeder 2-0—4, Koch 1-2—4. TOTALS: 22-2—52. LEIPSIC (6-3, 2-1 NWC, 3-1 PCL) Brandt 13-6—35, Maag 5-1—11, Pena 3-0—7, Schroeder 0-2—2, Carillo 1-0—2. TOTALS: 22-9—59. Columbus Grove &emsp;&emsp;14 &emsp;&emsp;18 &emsp;&emsp;11 &emsp;&emsp;9—52 Leipsic &emsp;&emsp;13 &emsp;&emsp;16 &emsp;&emsp;9 &emsp;&emsp;21—59 3-POINT GOALS: Columbus Grove 6 (Birnesser 3, Reynolds 2); Leipsic 4 (Brandt 3). REBOUNDS: Columbus Grove 31 (Bellman 11); Leipsic 21 (Brandt 9). TURNOVERS: Columbus Grove 15; Leipsic 8. JUNIOR VARSITY: Leipsic, 38-34.