COLDWATER – Behind a career high 23 points from sophomore Elise Kramer the Ottoville Big Green moved to 5-0 all-time against Coldwater with a 68-59 non-conference win Monday night.
Leading 14-8 in the opening moments of the second quarter the Big Green guard splashed home a pair of three point goals to help the visitors run their advantage to 24-16 and later added two more from deep as part of a personal 14 point second period .
Three pointers by teammate Alexa Honigford and Nicole Knippen sent Ottoville into the locker room with a 37-25 advantage.
Held to just a pair of makes from inside the arc and a handful of free throws the host Cavaliers themselves turned to the long ball in an attempt to cut into the deficit on makes by Becca Wenning, Jenne Leugers, and Courtney May before the second quarter buzzer.
In the second half the Cavaliers Annelise Harlamert, a junior averaging five and a half points a game took over the contest as she helped to trim the lead as low as 41-38 with 2:17 in the stanza with the fourth of her seven points in the quarter. Held to just six first half points by a rotating Big Green defense that included a pair of defenders on any touch, 6’3 post Riley Rismiller notched six points herself to send the game into the fourth at 45-43 Ottoville.
While the early moments of the game resembled a three point shooting contest, the final eight minutes resembled more of a free throw shooting contest between the two squads as they would combine to attempt 17 tosses.
Ottoville’s trio of Alexa Honigford, Nicole Knippen, and Elise Kramer hit on 11 of their 12 opportunities to help secure the victory. Despite being held scoreless in the game after a seven point first quarter performance, Knippen scored eight straight points that included a pair of fast break steal and scores as part of her 19 points in the game and 12 in the quarter.
Not to be outdone by her elder teammates, Kramer finished off her career high 23 markers with six points in the final eight minutes with a 4/4 performance at the line.
Riley Rismiller cut the lead to two at 47-45 near the beginning of the period with two of her nine in the final stanza and team high 21 overall but was unable to pull any closer as the Big Green pulled away from the charity stripe in the waning moments to secure their fifth straight victory in the series. Rismiller also snagged a team high 9 rebounds while passing out five assists.
“I’m extremely proud of our effort against a physical opponent in a Monday evening road game! We showed a lot of grit until the end of the game and made some clutch free throws down the stretch in the fourth quarter. As a team we are putting each other in situations where they are comfortable with the ball and it shows” said Ottoville second year head coach Michelle Leach on her teams performance in the game.
Coldwater falls to 1-4 on the season and will be back in action on Thursday at Marion Local in MAC play while Ottoville improves to 5-1 and will be in non-league action Thursday evening as they travel to battle Wayne Trace.
Scoring:
Ottoville (68):
Tori Thomas 6
Alexa Honigford 17
Isabelle Furley 3
Elise Kramer 23
Nicole Knippen 19
FT: 19/23
3PT: 9 (Kramer 4, Honigford 3, Furley, Knippen)
TO: 8
Coldwater (59):
Becca Wenning 5
Jenna Leugers 3
Annelise Harlamert 13
Courtney May 8
Madison Wendel 1
Bria Dues 5
Paige Siefring 3
Riley Rismiller 21
FT: 11/15
3PT: 4 (May 2, Leugers, Wenning)
TO: 16
JV: Ottoville 39-37