DEFIANCE – It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for Ottawa Glandorf on Saturday evening in their 45-32 victory.
O-G found tough sledding against the Paulding Panthers early on thanks to 6’0 sophomore Kayleigh Dunham patrolling the middle of the lane. Dunham entered play Saturday night with 76 blocks on the season and added a handful to that total in the first half.
Paulding raced out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by junior Addison Pease and senior Brooklyn Bakle and increased that advantage to 10-5 on a basket by Dunham.
The Titans dented the scoreboard first behind District 8 Player of the Year Karsyn Erford to cut the score to 4-2 but found themselves in foul trouble and trailing 12-8 at the games first stoppage.
“They did a good job of forcing us out of our normal routines between foul trouble and injuries and our subbing patterns,” said Ottawa Glandorf head coach Troy Yant.
Business picked up as they say for the Titans in the second quarter as the Panthers were held scoreless for the first half of the stanza and recorded just five points. Senior sharpshooter Kaelyn Grothause accounted for five O-G markers herself to help keep the offense afloat, but none bigger then a right wing triple to give her squad their first lead at 20-17 just before the half.
Throughout the second period the Titans found themselves always one basket away from crawling ahead before the Grothause three pointer. Baskets by Liv Grothause, Karsyn Erford, Madison McKee, and Grothause herself throughout the eight minutes each pulled the game into a tie but each right before a Paulding answer.
Kayleigh Dunham’s second quarter make with 2:50 remaining proved to be the only basket for the Panthers for quite some time in the game while the Titans amassed their lead. Paulding’s next point in the game wouldn’t come until their only basket of the third, a triple from Addison Pease with 3:25 to trim the deficit to 28-20.
Saddled with the loss of senior Kaitlyn Kimmet due to foul trouble, the Titans were forced to rely heavily on Madison McKee for their interior defense and Karyn Erford for their scoring.
Each player delivered for the Titans (22-0) as Erford hit for eight of her career high 22 points in the quarter and pushed the blue and gold lead to 30-20 heading to the fourth. “We never really looked comfortable, but our defense did enough in the third quarter to give us a little distance heading to the fourth” said Yant.
Erford continued her offensive dominance in the fourth quarter, hitting for the final seven and passing her previous high of 21 with just over three minutes to go.
“I felt like Karsyn did everything she could to make sure we got the win,” said Yant.
Liv Grothause scored six of her eight markers in the fourth quarter for the Titans and helped push the lead into double digits as passes found their way through the Panthers defense for layups.
Tori and Brooklyn Schlatter each connected on deep threes in the final minutes to keep the visitors offense afloat but the Panthers would fall short on the final scoreboard and see their season conclude at 19-6.
Addison Pease paced Paulding with 10 points while Brooklyn Schlatter hit for eight.
“Even though this wasn’t our best effort, I’m happy to get away with a win,” said Yant. “Ultimately a win is a win and we are headed to regionals and we get a few days to figure some things out.”
Ottawa Glandorf will travel to Ridgedale HS on Wednesday night for a 6pm meeting against Johnstown in the regional semifinals.
Scoring:
OG (45):
Liv Grothause 8
Karsyn Erford 22
Carlie Brinkman 2
Madison McKee 5
Kaelyn Grothause 5
Kaitlyn Kimmet 3
FT: 7/13
3PT: 2 (Erford, K. Grothause)
TO: 17
Paulding (32):
Addison Pease 10
Brooklyn Bakle 4
Tori Schlatter 4
Estie Pease 2
Brooklyn Schlatter 8
Kayleigh Dunham 4
FT: 4/6
3PT: 4 (B. Schlatter 2, A. Pease, T. Schlatter)
TO: 13