ELIDA – Ottawa Glandorf trailed for most of the evening on Thursday at the Elida Fieldhouse but hit the final shot when it mattered most to defeat NWC champion Delphos Jefferson 43-42.
Trailing by two and forced to run the length of the floor with just :11.9 seconds remaining the Titans Emma Brinkman bounced a pass to the left corner to a wide open Lily Haselman and celebrated just seconds later as time expired when the 5’3 junior’s ball fell through the hoop to give Ottawa Glandorf the victory.
Speaking on the shot after the game OG boss Troy Yant remarked “It’s not really what we talked about in our timeout, but fortunately for us she had the confidence to shoot it when the ball came to her and for the first time in a while Lady Luck seemed to smile on us.”
OG began the game with the first marker as a basket from Erin Kaufman put the blue and gold on top 2-0. Unfortunately for the Titans the basket would be their last for nearly three minutes of play while the Wildcats jumped out to a 7-2 advantage on baskets by Lyv Lindeman, Josie McGue, and a triple from Aly Lindeman.
Jefferson established a high tempo first quarter and continued to add to their lead behind three point goals from Hannah Wiltsie, and Gwen Teman to take a 17-8 score into the period stoppage.
The Titans cut the lead twice into single digits in the second period on a three pointer by Kimmet and a pair of fast break makes by Myka Aldrich but were unable to shut down Aly Lindeman who again notched a shot from deep to push the lead to 26-15 Wildcats at the halftime break.
“I didn’t think we played very well in the first half, kudos to Jefferson as they came out and were the more physical team early on while we settled for 3’s. They did a good job of taking away what we wanted to do.”
Third quarter play began with a touch of history for Ottawa Glandorf senior Erin Kaufman as her basket with 7:42 on the clock cue the lead to 26-17 and pushed her past former Titan Kylie White into fourth place on the school’s scoring record with her 1,057th career marker.
Aly Lindeman got the Wildcats on the board at 6:35 to go in the period and back ahead by double digits 28-17 to put a stop to a nearly four minute drought from the field.
Moments after passing Kylie White, Erin Kaufman again made school history as a second basket and free throw sent her total to 1,060 and surpassed former Titan standout Sandy (Buddelmeyer) White for third place and trimmed the deficit back to single digits once again.
While Ottawa Glandorf continued to pull closer on the scoreboard behind baskets from Kaufman, Myka Aldrich, and Carlie Brinkman, Jefferson sent the contest into the final eight minutes with a five point lead with a triple by Lyv Lindeman.
Sophomore post Lauren French connected on a pair of free throws early in the fourth quarter to quell a dry spell of close to five minutes for the Wildcats at 32-28 just before baskets by OG’s Katie Kaufman and sister Erin trimmed the lead to 33-30.
Tied with 3:15 left in regulation the Titans took their first lead since 2-0 thanks to a basket by Erin Kaufman as part of her game high 16 but found themselves caught in a game of match that score that saw Jefferson pull even at 40-40 on a triple by Wiltsie and a set of free throws by Aly Lindeman with 1:07 remaining.
Lindeman struck again for the final Jefferson points, two charity tosses with just under twelve seconds remaining before the Titans would find themselves basking in the glory of Haselman’s game winning shot.
“Halftime gave us a chance to gather ourselves and I felt we played better in the second half getting ourselves back into the game. In the fourth quarter I believe we played our best defense and applied more pressure and were able to scratch and claw ourselves into a one possession game, a lead, a tie, and then ultimately a situation where we were down two but with a chance” said Yant on his teams performance.
Delphos Jefferson was led by Aly Lindeman’s team high 13 points and finishes the season with a 22-2 record that saw both losses come at the hands of the Co-WBL Champions Shawnee and OG by a single point each time.
Ottawa Glandorf (18-7) will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at 3:00pm taking on rival Liberty Benton, 54-27 winners in the nightcap at the Fieldhouse for a trip to the regional semifinals next week.
“The girls never gave up and their determination put us in a position that a shot like that could win the game” Yant finished on his teams evening.
Ottawa Glandorf wins with a triple at the buzzer! WHAT A GAME!!!!
Final Score
#3 Ottawa Glandorf 43, #2 Delphos Jefferson 42 pic.twitter.com/WXN5rWo1jm
— Nate Stidham (@natestidham_) February 24, 2022
Scoring:
OG (43):
Lily Haselman 3
Emma Brinkman 2
Myka Aldrich 10
Carlie Brinkman 3
Kaitlyn Kimmet 5
Erin Kaufman 16
Katie Kaufman 4
FG: 18/50
3PT: 2/16 (Haselman, Kimmet)
FT: 5/7
REB: 31 (E. Kaufman 8)
TO: 9
Jefferson (42):
Hannah Wiltsie 8
Gwen Teman 3
Aly Lindeman 13
Lyv Lindeman 9
Josie McGue 2
Lauren French 7
FG: 13/40
3PT: 6/18 (Wiltsie 2, A. Lindeman 2, L. Lindeman, Teman)
FT: 10/13
REB: 32 (French 9)
TO: 12