ELIDA – Ottawa Glandorf jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter of Thursday nights Western Buckeye League contest at the Elida Fieldhouse and never looked back as they dispatched the host Bulldogs 57-27.
Freshman guard Kaelyn Grothouse led the offense with a career high 17 points and exploded for 14 markers with a pair of three point goals in the middle two periods to help OG continue to add to their advantage.
Senior Erin Kaufman tapped the opening tip to Lily Haselman who raced ahead of would be defenders to put the visitors on top 2-0 just four seconds into the contest. Kaufman notched a pair of scores in the next minute on fast break opportunities on the next two Titan possessions to run the lead to 6-0 before a triple from junior Maggie Verhoff forced an Elida timeout down 9-0 with 5:27 remaining.
Sophomore post Katie Kaufman’s basket off of pass from Myka Aldrich put the blue and gold on top 11-0 before the former added a pair of free throws moments later to her teams tally.
Elida’s first and only basket from the field came from Addisyn Freeman with 3:11 to cut the lead to 13-2. Freeman would find herself again adding to her teams markers late in the quarter for the final point of a 21-3 deficit when she split a pair of charity tosses with 9.7 to go in the quarter.
Similar to the run their transition offense led them on in the first quarter the Titans utilized their defensive intensity in the second stanza to take a 32-3 lead on scores by Katie Kaufman and the eight point personal run by Grothouse. Elida finished the first half on a 6-0 run on baskets by Hadassah Johnson, Freeman, and Elli Mitchell to pull within 32-9 just before the buzzer.
While Grothouse and Erin Kaufman combined for 12 markers in the third to keep the Titans ahead, the Bulldogs answered with a 10 point output from Bella Lopez and Mitchell to pull within 48-21 heading into the final eight minutes.
Trailing 54-21 in the fourth the Bulldogs put a stop to a stretch of over six minutes without a basket on a jumper from Elli Mitchell. OG ended the contest’s final moments with makes from senior Chloe Schroeder and eventually Kaitlyn Kimmet with 24.2 remaining to secure their 14th straight series win against the Bulldogs.
Elida (2-5, 1-2) will play host to Columbus Grove next Tuesday night at the Elida Fieldhouse while the Titans (5-1, 3-0) are next in action next Thursday evening when they travel to take on defending state champion Napoleon at the Grand Canyon in a game that can be heard live on WZOQ Radio.
Elli Mitchell paced the home team with 10 points while Kaelyn Grothouse led all scorers for Ottawa Glandorf with a career high 17.
Scoring:
OG (57):
Chloe Schroeder 2
Lily Haselman 4
Maggie Verhoff 3
Kaelyn Grothouse 17
Myka Aldrich 4
Carlie Brinkman 2
Kaitlyn Kimmet 3
Erin Kaufman 14
Katie Kaufman 8
FT: 5/9
3PT: 3 (Grothouse 2, Verhoff)
TO: 17
Elida (27):
Hadassah Johnson 2
Bella Lopez 6
Addisyn Freeman 9
Elli Mitchell 10
FT: 5/10
3PT: 0
TO: 20
JV: OG 30-19