OTTAWA – Defense wins championships.
Ottawa Glandorf flexed their collective defensive muscle on Thursday night at the Supreme Court to down visiting Van Wert 65-16 to clinch at least a share of their 16th Western Buckeye League. Since sharing the 2020-21 crown with Shawnee, the Titans (17-0, 8-0) have claimed the title outright each of their last three campaigns.
Van Wert (3-17, 0-8) was held to just a single basket in the second half of play, a two-point goal by sophomore Jazzlyn Florence with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter while being outscored in the final two quarters 25-2.
“The defense at times was very good,” said O-G mentor Troy Yant. “I was pleased by the contributions of the second team.”
Ottawa Glandorf raced out to a 16-4 advantage in the opening eight minutes of play led by 5’11 senior Kaitlyn Kimmet and junior Liv Grothause’s 11 combined markers and never looked back.
“I thought Kaitlyn Kimmet was once again our driving force,” said Yant.
Recently offered by the University of Findlay women’s basketball team, Kimmet played like a collegiate standout on this night as she knocked down three triples and led all scorers with 18 points despite sitting most of the final period.
Thirteen first half turnovers and 24 overall miscues hurt the Cougars ability to hang points on the scoreboard but seemed to aid the Titans in their own quest thanks to quick run outs and long throws down the floor.
Nearly half of the Van Wert giveaways ended with a fast break score by Ottawa Glandorf as Carlie Brinkman, Gracie Lammers, Rilee Brinkman, and Leah Escamilla among others found themselves rewarded on swipe and scores by teammates.
Junior wing Greta Liebrecht tossed in a career high eight points as one of 11 Titans with markers in the victory, the 21st straight regular season win for O-G.
Florence led five scorers for Van Wert on the evening with five points that included one of the two Cougar triples in the first half.
Van Wert returns to action on February 3rd, traveling to Rockford for a non-league battle with the Parkway Panthers before returning home on February 6th for the regular season finale against Shawnee.
O-G heads north to Perrysburg for a non-conference tripleheader starting at 10am on Saturday before two home games next week against Archbold and Celina.
Scoring:
OG (65):
Liv Grothause 10
Karsyn Erford 5
Carlie Brinkman 8
Gracie Lammers 2
Rilee Brinkman 4
Megan Horstman 1
Madison McKee 2
Kaelyn Grothause 5
Greta Liebrecht 8
Leah Escamilla 2
Kaitlyn Kimmet 18
FT: 3/8
3PT: 4 (Kimmet 3, K. Grothause)
TO: 9
Van Wert (16):
Katie DeAmicis 3
Kendra Deehring 4
Jazzlyn Florence 5
Amaya Dowdy 2
Allison Geib 2
FT: 2/2
3PT: 2 (DeAmicis, Florence)
TO: 24
JV: Ottawa Glandorf (17-0) 45-8