OTTAWA – Defense was the name of the game on Thursday night as the Ottawa Glandorf Titans downed Route 65 rival Columbus Grove 43-22 in the annual battle between the two schools.
Maggie Verhoff opened the ballgame for the Titans just seconds in with a basket but found points to be at a premium as Columbus Grove jumped out to a 5-2 lead after themselves unable to score for the opening half of the period on makes by Kenzie King and Savanah Ridenour just seconds apart.
While the Titans suffocating defense kept the Bulldogs from scoring again over the last three and a half minutes of the period their offense was able to even the game at 5-5 on a triple by Erin Kaufman and out to a 9-5 lead at the buzzer on a pair of baskets by sister Katie Kaufman.
Freshman guard Kaelyn Grothouse upped the hosts advantage to 14-5 with a three point goal after a Katie Kaufman put back gave the Titans their first points of the period on the previous possession.
Held scoreless for nearly five minutes of game action across the first two quarters the Bulldogs trimmed their deficit to 14-7 on a Ridenour jumper before a pair of shots from beyond the arc by Emma Brinkman put the Titans up 20-7 with just 48.4 to go.
Junior Jaylen Sautter’s only points of the game, a shot with :13 left cut the lead to 20-9 but was trumped as the horn sounded when a rainbow three point shot from the corner fell through the net from the hands of Titan senior Chloe Schroeder.
Ottawa Glandorf’s Erin Kaufman, plagued by foul trouble in the first half and forced to sit for most of the second quarter shouldered the Titan scoring load in the third as she accounted for the first and final points of the period to send the game into the final eight minutes at 31-15.
Columbus Grove’s scoring drought of nearly four and a half minutes in the third quarter was stopped by triples from Shay Schroeder and Kenzie King but emerged once again at nearly three minutes into the fourth before a Brynn Fortman score cut the lead to 31-17 with 7:05 on the Supreme Court clock.
King, an all-league performer in both the NWC and PCL a season ago connected on the last of her makes in the ballgame at 6:35 to make it 31-20 before a barrage by Maggie Verhoff, Myka Aldrich, and both Kaufman sisters ran the lead to 39-20 thanks to perfectly timed bounce passes through the Grove defense for open layups.
Seniors Schroeder and Kaydree Frey traded baskets for their teams in the final minutes as the Titans secured their 10th straight victory in the series and 11th in 12 tries since two teams resumed playing one another in 2009.
Columbus Grove (8-3) was led by Kenzie King with 9 and will next be in action on Tuesday, January 3rd as they kick off the 2022 portion of their schedule by traveling to Findlay to battle Liberty Benton.
Ottawa Glandorf (7-2) was paced by Erin Kaufman’s fifth straight double figure scoring game and 11 points. Next up for the Titans is a Thursday, January 6th home WBL contest against St. Marys.
“We needed a win and we got one, a great way to end 2021 and now we get a week to prepare for St. Marys. I thought we were better as a team, our defense was more focused but our offense still needs work. I thought Katie Kaufman played well and did some nice things and Kaelyn Grothouse did a nice job handling the point. Offensively we are still a work in progress, especially when Erin (Kaufman) goes out” said Ottawa Glandorf boss Troy Yant after the game.
Scoring:
OG (43):
Chloe Schroeder 3
Maggie Verhoff 6
Kaelyn Grothouse 3
Emma Brinkman 6
Myka Aldrich 4
Erin Kaufman 11
Katie Kaufman 8
Kaydree Frey 2
FT: 0/3
3PT: 5 (E. Brinkman 2, Schroeder, Grothouse, E. Kaufman)
TO: 14
Grove (22):
Jaylen Sautter 2
Brynn Fortman 2
Shay Schroeder 5
Kenzie King 9
Savanah Ridenour 4
FT: 0/2
3PT: 4 (King 3, Schroeder)
TO: 22
JV: OG 41-16