DAYTON – Ottawa Glandorf jumped out to a quick 8-0 in the opening minutes of their Thursday afternoon tilt with Waynedale and held off a late Golden Bear rally to earn a 46-36 victory and secure a spot in their third state finals appearance in the last eight seasons.
OG scored on their first possession of the game by taking advantage of their size advantage on Waynedale as sophomore post Chloee Glenn scored the first of her game high 17 to lead a barrage that included baskets by teammates Erin Kaufman, Kelsey Erford, and classmate Lily Haselman.
Waynedale’s first points of the afternoon came with 5:11 remaining on a split pair of free throws from senior standout Brooklyn Troyer. Troyer ended the Golden Bears regional finals victory over South Range by scoring the final 19 markers for her squad and began what would be her last high school contest by scoring the first 10 points to help cut the Titans advantage to 19-12 at the first quarter horn.
Held to just a pair of baskets and a free throws by Glenn and freshman starter Myka Aldrich the Titans were forced to rely on their high pressure defense to keep their lead heading into the half against the high powered offense of Waynesdale.
Entering play on Thursday the Golden Bears offense connected on a state record 257 three point goals on 787 attempts and turned to the long ball to cut into the lead throughout the second period. Triples by Alyssa Geiser, Kelsey Wolfe, and finally Laney Murphy sent the contest to the halftime break with the Titans clinging to a 25-23 lead.
Perhaps feeding off of the energy of the announced crowd of 1,121 inside the University of Dayton arena, the Golden Bears took their first and only lead just seconds into the third period at 26-25 thanks to a shot from deep behind the arc from 5’8 senior Kelsey Wolfe.
Unfortunately for the designated visitors their lead would survive for just :14 before being held to just three total points for the rest of the quarter. For their part the Titans continued to utilize their deep bench and ability to sub quickly to remain fresh and continued to run the floor and turn miscues by their opponent into their own points on the fast break.
After taking the lead back the Titans raced to a 36-29 lead on makes by four players led again by Glenn with a layup and jump shot from the baseline, and an and-one from junior Erin Kaufman as part of her 11 points and 16th double figure game of the season.
Brooklyn Troyer opened the scoring for Waynedale to begin the final eight minutes to trim the score to 36-31 on the first possession of the period but would see the Titans quickly make up those points on a driving layup by Kaufman just seconds later.
Junior guard Cherlyn Miller cut the lead back to seven for OG midway through the period at 40-33 to stop a Titan run but just moments later would watch as Troyer was tagged for her fifth personal foul and relegated to a spectator to freshman Kadie Kaufman’s pair of makes at the line with 4:17 remaining.
Waynedale found themselves as close as 42-36 with 1:47 to go before a marker by Erin Kaufman and a pair of free throws from Chloee Glenn slammed the door on a 46-36 OG victory as time expired.
Malone commit Brooklyn Troyer ended her brilliant career leading Waynedale’s scoring with 16. The Golden Bears who clinched their first Wayne County League title since 2007 see their season end with their first state semifinal appearance in school history with a 25-2 record.
Ottawa Glandorf (26-2) will make their third state finals appearance on Saturday evening when they take on the 25-1 top ranked Berlin Hiland Hawks at 2:00 P.M. inside UD Arena in a game broadcast live on WZOQ Radio.
Box Score:
OG (46):
Kelsey Erford 6
Lily Haselman 4
Myka Aldrich 6
Erin Kaufman 11
Kadie Kaufman 2
Chloee Glenn 17
FG: 17/39
3PT: 0/2
FT: 12/21
REB: 29 (E. Kaufman/Glenn 7)
TO: 14
Waynedale (36):
Alyssa Geiser 3
Kelsey Wolfe 9
Laney Murphy 6
Cherlyn Miller
Brooklyn Troyer 16
FG: 13/35
3PT: 6/16 (Wolfe 3, Geiser, Murphy, Troyer)
FT: 4/6
REB: 22 (Troyer 6)
TO: 14