MIDDLE POINT – Ottawa Glandorf turned out their best defensive performance of the season on Monday night en route to a sectional title and a 37-19 victory over Coldwater on the floor of Lincolnview High School.
Each time the Titans came close to pulling away in the first period the Cavaliers pushed back to keep themselves close on the scoreboard that included a late jumper by sophomore Madison Wendel to trim the deficit to 10-9 at the buzzer.
Coldwater junior post Riley Rismiller, held to just four points in a tournament loss to the Titans scored all five of her markers of the opening half in the first that included hitting 3 of 4 from the free throw line.
Kaitlyn Kimmet opened the second quarter for the blue and gold and gave her team a little breathing room by knocking down an early three point goal to put the Titans on top 13-9 before a basket by Becca Wenning trimmed the lead to 13-11.
Cavalier Claire Steinke cut the lead even closer at 13-12 with a free throw at 6:11 for the final point the visitors would score in the half while falling behind 17-12 at the break on fast break makes from Myka Aldrich and Carlie Brinkman for OG.
For the second straight game the Titans forced their opponent into a dozen first half turnovers and continued to add to the Coldwater tally in the opening minutes of the third by holding their opponent to just a single make from the field, an Emma May tally with seven minutes remaining.
Western Buckeye League Player of the Year Erin Kaufman took over the Titans scoring in the third quarter as she hit for a pair of free throws and baskets to run the advantage to 23-14 after another steal and score from Aldrich.
Trailing 25-17 to open the fourth the Cavaliers found themselves again held off the scoreboard with the exception to just a pair of free throws by Jenna Leugers with 1:16 left that stopped a span of nearly a full quarter without a score dating back to Leugers hitting two tosses with 1:08 remaining in the third.
Lily Haselman turned in the final of her four steals in the game into a layup and later added two free throws of her own with 1:03 to go before a basket from senior Kaydree Frey finished off the scoring with :19 left to secure the 37-19 victory.
Riley Rismiller led the Cavaliers (12-12) with six points, six rebounds, and six blocks while Erin Kaufman paced the Titans (17-7) with a game high 13 points to go along with her six steals and five rebounds.
Ottawa Glandorf will be back in action on Thursday at 5:30pm inside the Elida Fieldhouse as they battle Delphos Jefferson in a game that will be broadcast live on WZOQ Radio.
“Erin Kaufman carried our team tonight and I felt she neutralized their best asset and then our defense started to turn the tide. Once we got Coldwater to play man to man, Erin took over the game” stated Titan boss Troy Yant.
On the topic of his teams defensive effort the WBL C0-Coach of the Year remarked “I thought Lily Haselman (6 points, 4 steals), and Myka Aldrich (6 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals) really played well defensively tonight”.
Scoring:
OG (37):
Lily Haselman 6
Myka Aldrich 6
Carlie Brinkman 3
Kaitlyn Kimmet 5
Erin Kaufman 13
Katie Kaufman 2
Kaydree Frey 2
FG: 14/55
3PT: 1/9 (Kimmet)
FT: 8/11
TO: 9
Coldwater (19):
Becca Wenning 2
Emma May 2
Jenna Leugers 6
Madison Wendel 2
Claire Steinke 1
Riley Rismiller 6
FG: 5/24
3PT: 0/8
FT: 9/12
TO: 25