OTTAWA – Two state ranked teams met on the floor at Robert J. Hermiller Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon with visiting #6 Toledo Central Catholic emerging victorious 49-33 over #9 Ottawa Glandorf.
Bitten hard by recent injuries to key players the Titans fell behind early in the first quarter thanks to triples by Corniya Clay and Mary Ellis that sparked the Irish to a 16-9 first period advantage.
Working against frequent double and triple teams, Ottawa Glandorf senior post Erin Kaufman found minimal work to operate in her usual manner but able to cut the lead to seven on a pair of occasions with two of her four first half makes.
Central Catholic coach Erika Haney dialed up the pressure defense in the second period and watched as her troops turned Titan miscues into points from five different scorers on the way to taking a 28-16 lead into the halftime stoppage.
Ottawa Glandorf’s bright spot of the second stanza came with just under half a minute remaining as a three point goal by freshman Kaitlyn Kimmet cut the deficit to 26-15.
Things continued to go well for the Irish in the third as the trio of Clay, Mary Ellis, and Malone signee Brinn Hunt combined for 11 markers to stretch the lead even further. OG spanned eight points over four different scorers who each knocked in two to send the game to the final eight minutes 39-24.
Free throws and a triple punctuated the Irish scoring in the fourth while the Titans were able to knock down a shot from deep from Emma Brinkman and add a trio of baskets by Maggie Verhoff and two from leading scorer Erin Kaufman who ended with a game high 14.
Kaufman, coming off of a career high 24 point performance in Thursday evening’s defeat of Van Wert finished this afternoons game with a career mark of 934 to draw closer in her pursuit of joining the 1,000 point club at OGHS.
Sophomore sensation Corniya Clay led three Central Catholic double figure scorers with 13. Next up for the #6 Irish is Fremont Ross on Monday night and a trip to St. Ursula on Thursday.
Ottawa Glandorf suffers their fifth loss of the season against 11 wins, the most since head coach Troy Yant’s first season at the helm a decade ago.
The Titans are back in action at the Supreme Court Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. for a varsity only tilt against Toledo Christian that can be heard live on WZOQ Radio.
Scoring:
TCC (49):
Corniya Clay 13
Mary Ellis 12
Jai’Lynne Hitt-Swartz 2
Jen Pryer 2
Emily Baer 5
Brinn Hunt 10
Brooklyn Vaughn 6
FT: 8/16
3PT: 5 (Clay 3, Ellis 2)
TO: 12
OG (33):
Maggie Verhoff 6
Emma Brinkman 3
Myka Aldrich 4
Kaitlyn Kimmet 3
Erin Kaufman 14
Katie Kaufman 3
FT: 5/12
3PT: 2 (E. Brinkman, Kimmet)
TO: 15
JV: TCC 56-49