Oak Harbor bounced in sectional final, but senior Dan Allen sets foundation for the future

Genoa coach Jon Sandwisch used a significant portion of a single practice focusing on one player.

Oak Harbor's Dan Allen. That's right, the senior post who is extremely unlikely to create a single basket for himself.

"Danny Allen does every thing you could want in a player," Sandwisch said. "Rebounding, defending. I'm thrilled he's graduating. We had a session in practice on just him. 15 minutes. Offensive rebounds. He's worked hard."

Jaxson Overmyer scored for a tie with 2 minutes, 40 seconds remaining, but Genoa scored the final four points from the free throw line Friday in a 34-30 victory for the Comets in a Division III sectional final. Oak Harbor beat co-league champ Genoa twice during the regular season in the Northern Buckeye Conference.

Allen grabbed an offensive rebound and Mike LaLonde dropped in a 3-pointer for a 26-25 advantage with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Genoa boys basketball Ryan Routson helps Comets beat Oak Harbor

Imagine three opponents standing close to one another facing the same way. Visualize Allen a few feet behind them, directly or not.

When the ball goes over the head of all four players on a rebound or loose ball, Allen is going to touch it. He might not retrieve it, but if he can't he still has three opponents running the wrong way from his tap.

That's his trademark. Allen sets a screen, turns around to face the other direction and sets a screen and then slides to set another.

All of them are rather sturdy.

"The ball goes up, there's no question what Dan Allen brings," said Oak Harbor coach Eric Sweet said. "Toughness, energy, unselfishness. [Puts] program first. He was glue for two years. Dan Allen did so much for us rebounding, hustle, screens, guarding.

"He shows up at everything we do. He never worried about playing time or points. He played his tail off."

Allen was an emotional beacon for Oak Harbor. He was often emotional and his teammates responded to that and his gritty and physical contributions.

"He was a captain all year," Sweet said, although he wasn't officially a captain. "That's who he is. You can't help but give everything you've got when you see him. His energy sparks us overall. We get energized when he does those things."

Allen likes to think he's mean on the court. His game helps him pull it off, his personality does not.

He seems happy too often to be mean. Screens so rigid an opponent risks having his upper body snapped back while his feet leave the floor in front of him are rather nasty though.

"Maybe it's focus," he said. "That's me. Focus on what I do best. Defense and rebound. Scrappy putbacks. That's my goal. Bring energy. Get scrappy. Get those boards."

Allen's realized his window was closing as a senior and his mentality changed late in the season. He added more intensity and urgency to his recipe.

"I started slow helping any way I can on defense and rebounding," he said. "In late January, against Cardinal Stritch I had to turn it up. Myself and my teammates were hustling with high energy. Ethan [Stokes] was out injured.

"The last five games, time was running out and I had to sacrifice, whether that was my body or not."

He had 15 rebounds and 10 points in a win over Stritch, which not coincidentally corresponded with Senior Night. He finished the season with double-doubles against Rossford, Lake and Edison, before adding nine points against Genoa.

"From my junior year off the bench until now is energy, energy, energy," he said.

Sweet had a rock in Allen.

"Dan Allen is a program-building player," he said. "He's been in the program since the first grade and he continued to work and show up for everything. He was a freshman on the freshman team. He played JV as a sophomore.

"He was a backup post as a junior. He was a starter because of the time and effort he put into the program. He was rewarded. He kept working. You want people like that in your program, your business, as a human being."

Oak Harbor assistant Eric Dusseau watched Allen turn over every stone to maximize his toolkit.

"Every kid has an orange," Dusseau said. "He squeezed every last bit of juice out of his orange. Not a drop is wasted."

Allen hopes he set an example. He'll be paying attention to the other oranges.

"We have leaders," Allen said. "Stokes, Mike, Jaxson, [Carson] Slates, [Carson] Steinbrick. The future is bright for another sectional run. There's unfinished business, and the league. I want this team to win the league.

"Show up and work. Do what you do and get better at what you do."

mhorn@gannett.com

419-307-4892

X: @MatthewHornNH

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Oak Harbor, Genoa OHSAA boys basketball sectional final Division III