ELIDA – Ottawa Glandorf cut down the nets for the 4th straight season on Saturday afternoon as district champions as they defeated NWC champion Delphos Jefferson 48-34 in front of a large crowd at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Kimmet hit an early free throw to put the Titans on the scoreboard first before a basket from freshman Karsyn Erford moved the advantage to 3-0. Delphos Jefferson tied the game on a triple by Lyv Lindeman before finding themselves without a basket for over three minutes until a free throw from Hannah Wiltsie split the net.
Tied 6-6 with the clock running to expiration in the opening eight minutes the Titans rallied for a four point finish thanks to run out baskets by Erford and Lily Haselman to send the blue and gold ahead 10-6 at the first stoppage.
Hannah Wiltsie’s make on the opening possession of the second stanza trimmed the deficit to 10-8 but would be the last for nearly two and a half minutes until a Lindeman basket with 5:12 pulled Jefferson back to within 14-10.
OG’s strip and score defensive pressure was too much for the Wildcats for nearly the entire rest of the half as the lead ballooned to 30-13 on triples by Haselman and the returning Kaelyn Grothause and a 12-point combo effort from Katie Kaufman and Chloee Glenn inside the paint.
“We’re still a work in progress. If we could put together four quarters like the second quarter tonight we’ll be a pretty good basketball team” said Ottawa Glandorf mentor Troy Yant of his teams 20-7 run.
Named as the Co-Northwest Conference Player of the Year this season Lyv Lindeman showed her scoring prowess in the third period as she shouldered the load offensively for the Wildcats. Lindeman, a junior who surpassed the 1,000 point mark earlier this season connected on a pair of deep triples and hit for 13 of her game high 26 markers in the quarter.
Returning from an injury that cost her most of last season and nearly half of this season, OG’s Chloee Glenn went back to work in the third as she pushed through a pair of layups as part of her team high 15. Speaking on Glenn, Troy Yant remarked “She wants to play. She had a legit chance before her injury to win the Player of the Year award twice I believe and to be our all-time leading scorer. She has sacrificed a lot to come back and I think she cherishes her time on the floor more than ever, hopefully we can keep extending that by winning more games”.
OG’s scoring slowed down in the second half as younger players began to filter through lineup changes but the defensive effort never faltered as the Wildcats were held to four baskets in the last eight minutes, three by Lindeman and one from senior Rylynn Marquiss, a make that represented the only connection in the second half not to come from Lindeman.
Delphos Jefferson (23-2) sees their season come to a halt for the second straight year with a district level loss to Ottawa Glandorf in the Elida Fieldhouse.
Ottawa Glandorf (22-3) was led on the evening by Chloee Glenn’s 15 and Karsyn Erford’s 14 point performances. Next up for the Titans is a Thursday night 8pm regional semifinals tilt in Elida against Liberty Center in a game broadcast live on WZOQ Radio.
Scoring:
OG (48):
Karsyn Erford 14
Lily Haselman 5
Kaelyn Grothause 7
Kaitlyn Kimmet 1
Katie Kaufman 6
Chloee Glenn 15
FG: 20/44
3PT: 4/9 (Erford 2, K. Grothause, Haselman)
FT: 4/7
REB: 38 (Aldrich 7)
TO: 13
Jefferson (34):
Hannah Wiltsie 6
Lyv Lindeman 26
Rylynn Marquiss 2
FG: 14/51
3PT: 4/25 (Lindeman 3, Wiltsie)
FT: 2/5
REB: 26 (French 8)
TO: 10