FINDLAY – Ottawa Glandorf’s tenacious defense has carried the Titans all season long but their offense was on display Wednesday night as well at Findlay High School in a 63-42 regional semifinals victory over Wauseon.
For just the fourth time this season the Titans were able to score 63 or more points by utilizing their high pressure defense to force run outs and to a quick 10-2 lead midway through the opening period.
Postseason hero Lily Haselman contributed a pair of early baskets for Ottawa Glandorf as the Titans continued to run their lead in the early minutes and helped provide a pair of steals from Wauseon ballhandlers.
Autumn Pelok contributed every point for the Indians in the first stanza as she connected on a layup to cut the OG lead to 5-2 and a pair of long distance three point goals to send the game into the first stoppage 16-8 Ottawa Glandorf.
Wauseon cut into the Titans lead in the second quarter with a pair of triples from Ellie Rodriguez and senior standout Marisa Seiler before post Hayley Meyer provided a punch down low late in the period to get the score within 21-18 with 2:43 remaining after she reentered the contest with two fouls.
Senior Erin Kaufman took over the game at multiple points in the first half as she continued to lead the Titan attack in the second frame by scoring six of her 14 first half markers while handing out a trio of assists to send the blue and gold into the locker room with a 25-18 advantage.
“We figured out some keys to slow Wauseon down, I think we pressured them a little more than they were accustomed to and they began to look a little tired” said OG coach Troy Yant.
Ottawa Glandorf stormed out of the halftime break with a quick basket from Myka Aldrich to take a 27-18 lead on a lead pass from Kaufman to start a 10-2 run that ended with baskets by Kaitlyn Kimmet, Katie Kaufman, Carlie Brinkman, Myka Aldrich again, and eventually Kaufman herself.
“Our message to the girls coming out of the half is we usually win the third quarter, let’s go out and establish in this one and put this game away” said Yant of his halftime speech to his team.
Marisa Seiler, a 21.9 point per game scorer who Yant remarked “she hit a couple of deep threes when she didn’t have legs and that’s the sign of a really good player” of nabbed a pair of baskets in the third stanza to run her total to seven points as the Titans began to pull away.
Leading 41-27 to begin the final eight minutes the Titans offense revolved around the Kaufman sisters ability to set one another up for open baskets for a while as the duo combined to score 13 of the final 22 markers for OG with younger sister Katie notching nine of her 12 points on the night in the frame.
Wauseon’s attempt to mount a comeback fell on the hands of Seiler in the fourth as she connected on a pair of triples and free throws for 10 of her team high 17 points but came up short as the Titans dribbled out the final seconds of their sixth straight victory over the Indians during the Troy Yant era.
The Indians season comes to an end with a 22-4 record while the Titans (20-7) with the win clinched their ninth straight 20 or more win season and will be in action again on Friday night in Lexington’s regional finals at 7:00pm against Worthington Christian for trip to next weeks D3 state semifinals in Dayton.
On the topic of his younger players Yant remarked “I thought Kaitlyn Kimmet did a great job, Myka was Myka and her usual self and played a great defensive game, and Lily Haselman has done a great job at the point and on the floor for us.”
Marisa Seiler led Wauseon with 17 points on the night while Erin Kaufman ran her career total to 1,101 with a 22 point performance and jumped from 38th to 34th on the all-time Putnam County girls scoring list.
“I like where we’re at right now and what I’ve seen. I think this is a dangerous team that has yet to scratch the surface. We’re in a weird area, this time of year we usually know how all the Lego pieces fit but this time around we’re fortunate to be still learning about these girls the more we play” Yant said after the contest.
Friday night’s game can be heard live on WZOQ Radio and viewed at Zsportslive Facebook.
Scoring:
OG (63):
Chloe Schroeder 1
Lily Haselman 6
Ashlynn Siefker 2
Myka Aldrich 7
Carlie Brinkman 4
Kaitlyn Kimmet 9
Erin Kaufman 22
Katie Kaufman 12
FT: 11/19
3PT: 0
TO: 7
Wauseon (42):
Johanna Tester 2
Autumn Pelok 10
Ellie Rodriguez 3
Marisa Seiler 17
Kadence Carroll 3
Hayley Meyer 7
FT: 3/4
3PT: 7 (Seiler 3, Pelok 2, Carroll, Rodriguez)
TO: 18
Game Broadcast from WZOQ: