OTTAWA – Timely baskets and clutch free throw shooting led Ottawa Glandorf to a 61-51 victory on Monday night at the Supreme Court in a battle of unbeatens with visiting Patrick Henry.
Titans Kaitlyn Kimmet (12 points, nine rebounds) and Karsyn Erford hit on 13 of their 14 tosses from the free throw line on their way to 32 combined points.
Defensively, the Titans forced 22 Patrick Henry miscues on the evening and used their suffocating half court swarm to hold Patrick Henry junior Carys Crossland to just three points, 17 below her season average.
“I thought Megan Horstman played a great game defending their #1 (Crossland) mostly quiet while still contributing eight points of her own on offense,” said O-G 13th year head coach Troy Yant.
Coming off of a career high 10 points in a Thursday night victory over Kenton, Horstman did what she does best on the offensive end, knock down shots from behind the arc. Two triples in the first half helped to give the Titans leads of seven and 10 before the break.
O-G jumped out to a frantic start in the opening minute of the contest as baskets from Erford, Kimmet, and Liv Grothause helped amass an early 7-0 advantage.
Patrick Henry (5-1) climbed back to within four in the period on a free throw connection by Kelsey Schwiebert at 6:24 but were unable to slow down the Titans who cashed in on run outs to take a 20-10 lead.
Three point goals from Kynli Crowwland and Kasey Nelson punctuated a 16-10 period over the second eight minute segment to cut the Titans advantage to just 30-26 at halftime.
Much like the second quarter, the Patriots opened the third white hot from behind the arc. Patrick Henry hit three deep balls, two by Nelson and one from junior Sophie Guelde to take their first lead, 35-34 with 5:08 and force an O-G timeout.
As they have been known to do, the Titans flipped a switch through the rest of the period and retook the lead 36-35 after a successful pair of charity tosses from Kimmet and never trailed again.
“Kimmet was very steady and played most of the second half for us tonight without a rest,” said Yant on the 5’11 senior’s importance in the game.
Though the Patriots were at times able to pull within four of five on triples from Nelson, Guelde, and Ada Christman, the Titans remained calm and maintained their lead in the fourth.
Erford knocked down all eight of her free throws in the final eight minutes and finished with a game high 20 points while junior teammate Liv Grothause tossed in a career high 14.
O-G (5-0) has now won 10 straight in the series with Patrick Henry and holds a 16-2 all-time record over the Patriots.
Patrick Henry, off until next Monday night when they take on Continental, was paced by Kasey Nelson with 15 points.
“Liv was just consistently churning out points and making plays for us on defense,” said Yant. “Karsyn seemed intent on making up for spending a considerable amount of time on the bench tonight with two early fouls as the game went on.”
Ottawa Glandorf returns to action on Thursday evening when they trek to Wapakoneta for a Western Buckeye League tilt.
Scoring:
OG (61):
Liv Grothause 14
Karsyn Erford 20
Carlie Brinkman 3
Gracie Lammers 2
Megan Horstman 8
Leah Escamilla 2
Kaitlyn Kimmet 12
FT: 16/18
3PT: 3 (Horstman 2, Kimmet)
TO: 13
Patrick Henry (51):
Kasey Nelson 15
Carys Crossland 3
Sophie Guelde 6
Kelsey Schwiebert 5
Ella Christman 3
Ada Christman 11
Kynli Crossland 8
FT: 6/9
3PT: 9 (Nelson 4, Guelde 2, C. Crossland, K. Crossland, A. Christman)
TO: 22
JV: Ottawa Glandorf (5-0) 54-25