OTTAWA – Tied at the half with rival Ottoville at the half the OG Titans held the Big Green to just five points over the final two quarters Tuesday night for a 65-33 non-league victory.
Just before the halftime buzzer the visiting Big Green caught a break in the contest as a shot by Titan senior Kelsey Erford was deemed to have come after the whistle and buzzer sounded to send the teams into the locker room tied up at 28-28.
Celebrating both their two seniors Anna Siefker and Kelsey Erford, the Titans paid respects to the eight of their opponents’ eldest players as well before the opening tip.
Ottawa Glandorf junior Erin Kaufman put the hosts ahead in the opening seconds on a pair of free throw connections but found her squad quickly behind on the scoreboard as the Big Green raced by on a basket by Grace Gamble and a three point goal from Alexa Honigford to take a 5-2 advantage.
Through the rest of the opening stanza the teams traded baskets and leads before an Anna Siefker triple put the Titans up 14-11 with under :40 to go.
Trailing 16-13 in the opening minutes of the second period the Big Green tied the game on a pair of occasions at 16-16 and 18-18 on baskets by Honigford and Gamble before themselves amassing a one point advantage with 5:40 to go on a jumper by Nicole Knippen, Themselves trailing by a basket the Titans 6’0 junior Kaufman scored on a stick back to draw to a 28-28 tie.
“I was pleased with our defensive efforts in the first half” opined Ottoville second year head coach Michelle Leach after the game. Ottawa Glandorf coach Troy Yant expressed his frustration on the first half by saying “I felt we were not really playing basketball in the first half but going through the motions.”
Just as big sister Erin had done to close the first half, Katie Kaufman opened the scoring for the Titans in the third quarter on a rebound and score to give her team a 30-28 advantage with just seconds gone off the clock.
Ottoville’s first score of the second half came from their leading scorer Knippen who drilled a shot to cut the lead to 33-30 with 6:10 remaining in the period. Unfortunately for the Big Green however the marker would be their last for nearly six minutes until a basket by sophomore Elise Kramer.
While finally able to utilize their defensive intensity to manufacture points, the Ottawa Glandorf transition game helped to push the game out of reach with a 25-4 period led by Erford (9 points), Katie Kaufman (4 points), Myka Aldrich (4 points), and six points from sophomore post Chloee Glenn who finished the game with 14 on the evening.
“Once we were able to limit some of our turnovers and actually get points out of our possessions, our confidence rebounded and we were able to play better on both ends of the floor” said Yant. “I thought Lily Haselman did a good job on Knippen in the second half, Katie Kaufman played stronger and I was again impressed with Myka Aldrich’s overall play.”
Ottoville’s lone score of the fourth quarter came with just 39.9 seconds remaining in the game and from the free throw line thanks to freshman Isabelle Furley who split a pair to cut the OG lead to 63-33 and end a drought of nearly eight minutes.
OG outscored the Big Green 12-1 in the final stanza to secure their 23rd consecutive home victory, a 65-33 triumph.
Next up for Ottoville (9-6) is a Thursday night Putnam County League date at rival Fort Jennings. The Big Green were led in scoring by Nicole Knippen with 11.
After the game Leach opined on the outcome by saying “Tonight’s game was a tale of two halves and why you need to play the entire 32 minutes. We had too many turnovers and gave them way too many second chance opportunities on the offensive glass. Hopefully a game like tonight will help us continue to grow and get better.”
Ottawa Glandorf (12-2) rebounds from a loss to Division 4 #1 Fort Loramie on Saturday with the victory and were paced by Kelsey Erford (17), Chloee Glenn (14), and Erin Kaufman (12) in double figures. The Titans are home on Thursday night for WBL play against Celina and again on Saturday afternoon in non-league play against Delta.
Scoring:
OG (65):
Chloe Schroeder 2
Kelsey Erford 17
Anna Siefker 3
Lily Haselman 2
Ella Okuley 2
Myka Aldrich 4
Erin Kaufman 12
Katie Kaufman 9
Chloee Glenn 14
FT: 7/9
3PT: 2 (Erford, Siefker)
TO: 20
Ottoville (33):
Tori Thomas 3
Alexa Honigford 8
Isabelle Furley 1
Elise Kramer 4
Nicole Knippen 11
Grace Gamble 6
FT: 4/6
3PT: 3 (Honigford 2, Knippen)
TO: 32
JV: 41-31 Ottawa Glandorf