MINSTER – Ottawa Glandorf jumped out to a first quarter advantage on Tuesday night and turned up their pressure defense to spoil senior night with a 51-22 victory over Minster.
Senior Erin Kaufman started the rout for the Titans in the first period as she opened the scoring and was quickly joined by an Emma Brinkman three for a 5-0 lead that would explode to 9-0 with 1:48 remaining on baskets by Myka Aldrich and Lily Haselman off Wildcat turnovers.
Kaycie Albers got the hosts on the board with 1:08 before the end of the period to cut the lead to 9-3 before a Katie Kaufman basket finished off the period with OG on top 11-3.
Continuing to force turnovers the Titans repeatedly upped their lead on fast break run outs while holding the Wildcats scoreless until the 4:43 mark of the stanza when junior Katie McClurg cut the deficit to 16-7 with a pair of free throws and a turnover aided marker of her own.
Ottawa Glandorf junior Emma Brinkman took over the second for the Titans as she downed a pair of shots from beyond the arc and assisted in a Myka Aldrich basket to send the game into the half 19-9.
Forced into a dozen turnovers in the first half the Wildcats saw their total increase in the third quarter as they were held without a basket by an OG defense bent on snatching every available pass and turning miscues into points.
Continuing her trek to 1,000 career points, Erin Kaufman amassed eight of her team high tying 14 points in the third period and handed out a pair of assists to Aldrich and sister Katie on the way to a 34-9 lead that also saw senior Chloe Schroeder connect on a shot from well behind the right wing arc.
With just ten seconds remaining before the halftime break sophomore Lilly Barhorst, Minster’s third leading scorer on the season knocked down the Wildcats final marker until a make by Kaycie Albers with 6:46 in the fourth that ended a nearly nine and a half minute drought to cut the deficit to 36-11.
Through the final six plus minutes the two teams traded baskets with Emma Brinkman knocking down a fourth three point field goal of the evening on her way to establishing a new career high for the second straight game with 14.
“I thought Emma Brinkman got her shots up with a bit of urgency, but as big as her night was offensively I was equally impressed with her ability to provide rotations and defense on multiple players” said OG head coach Troy Yant.
Minster tossed in two triples of their own from senior Jayden Clune and junior Chloe Thien but found themselves unable to match the Titans 17 point quarter on the way to a 51-22 defeat.
“Overall I’m just very proud of the girls for having dealt with as much adversity as we have faced to come out and play a complete game on both ends of the floor. I was especially proud of the defensive effort in holding Minster to nine points through three quarters” said Yant on his teams play.
Kaycie Albers led Minster (11-8, 5-2) in scoring with five on the evening. The Wildcats will return to action for the first of three away games to round out the regular season on Thursday evening for a Midwest Athletic Conference clash with Fort Recovery.
Ottawa Glandorf (13-6, 7-0) was paced by the duo of Erin Kaufman and Emma Brinkman each with 14. Next up for the Titans is a Thursday night battle with Shawnee who has just one loss in Western Buckeye League play on the year.
Scoring:
OG (51):
Lily Haselman 2
Emma Brinkman 14
Myka Aldrich 6
Carlie Brinkman 4
Kaitlyn Kimmet 2
Erin Kaufman 14
Katie Kaufman 4
Megan Horstman 2
Chloe Schroeder 3
FT: 4/6
3PT: 5 (E. Brinkman 4, Schroeder)
TO: 11
Minster (22):
Katie McClurg 4
Kaycie Albers 5
Jayden Clune 3
Lyndi Hemmelgarn 2
Morgan Sparks 3
Lilly Barhorst 2
Chloe Thien 3
FT: 2/2
3PT: 4 (Albers, Clune, Sparks, Thien)
TO: 22
JV: 38-26 Minster