OTTAWA -Thursday night at the Supreme Court the Titans jumped out to an early lead on visiting Elida and never looked back on the way to a 74-41 victory.
Karsyn Erford and Carlie Brinkman led the offensive onslaught for O-G (11-0, 5-0) in the first quarter as they combined for 16 of their squads 23.
Elida struggled offensively in the first half, combining for just 21 points but was held in check in the opening stanza for the final 2:33 until a buzzer beater by 6’3 junior Emma Mitchell cut the Titans advantage to 23-8.
“I don’t think this was one of our better games,” said O-G head coach Troy Yant. “A lot of girls weren’t feeling their best and I think it showed, especially on the defensive end.”
The Bulldogs (8-6, 2-3) managed just five players in the scorebook on the night and were led by Mitchell who connected for a game high 15, and sophomore Lilly Sifrit who scored a dozen.
Three Ottawa Glandorf players finished the game with five or more rebounds on the night as the Titans snagged nearly 40 rebounds as a team.
Sophomore post Madison McKee played her best game of the season with expanded minutes against the Bulldogs. McKee grabbed a career high 11 rebounds while scoring seven first half points and finishing with a new career scoring output of 11.
“Madison was able to take some of the things we’ve been working on in practice and apply it in a game,” said Yant. “This was her best game at the varsity level.”
Keeping with their increased ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc in their previous handful of games, the Titans connected on seven triples on this night. Three of the long distances makes for O-G came from the hands of senior Kaelyn Grothause who knocked down one in each of the first three quarters to help her squad amass a 65-33 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
“I thought Kaelyn also took another step forward tonight,” said Yant.
Carlie Brinkman led the Titans in scoring with a near career high 15 points and was joined in double figures by Karsyn Erford with 14, and McKee with 11.
“Carlie was playing well on both ends of the floor, hitting threes, cutting to the basket, and making some good passes,” said Yant. “She also did a good job on defense when our team defense wasn’t at it’s best. A win is a win, we’re still undefeated in the WBL, and we have some things to be addressed before moving forward, but some positives to build on.”
Elida sees their three game winning streak come to and end but will be back in action looking to start a new one on Saturday at home against Botkins.
Ottawa Glandorf, ranked #2 in the state polls in D5 will head south to Fort Loramie on Saturday afternoon as they battle the D7 second ranked Fort Loramie Redskins, the defending D4 state champions from a season ago.
Scoring:
OG (74):
Liv Grothause 9
Karsyn Erford 14
Carlie Brinkman 15
Gracie Lammers 3
Madison McKee 11
Kaelyn Grothause 9
Ella White 2
Leah Escamilla 7
Kaitlyn Kimmet 4
FT: 7/13
3PT: 7 (K. Grothause 3, C. Brinkman 2, Lammers, Escamilla)
TO: 11
Elida (41):
Jordan Gladen 2
Tahricia Smith 4
Lilly Sifrit 12
Oliveah Sanders 8
Emma Mitchell 15
FT: 4/5
3PT: 3 (Sanders 2, Sifrit)
TO: 21
Score By Quarter:
O-G 23-17-25-9
Elida 8-13-12-8
JV: Ottawa Glandorf (11-0) 54-32