OTTAWA – Monday night’s non-league affair at the Supreme Court saw a trio of players hit for double digits to help OG race past visiting Bethel 60-30 in the first ever meeting between the two programs.
The Titans blasted off to a 21-4 first quarter on the heels of a trio of three point goals by Maggie Verhoff and Kaitlyn Kimmet and a steady dose of their trademark pressure defense.
Bethel’s first opportunity to reach the scoreboard came with 6:05 showing on the clock thanks to free throws from leading scorer Karley Moore and came once again over nearly three minutes later when Moore hit a second pair from the line to get within 10-4 at 2:47.
Ending the first quarter with an 11-0 run, the Titans turned Bethel miscues directly into points and short range or fast break opportunities for Katie Kaufman, Lily Haselman, and Kimmet.
Seconds into the ensuing eight minutes of play Ottawa Glandorf increased their lead again, this time to 23-4 as Chloee Glenn connected on a close range marker for the third of her 10 points in the game.
Held without a basket for nearly five minutes the Bees again turned to Moore for a pair of free throws and saw the start of another long sequence without a make until Izzy Halleg brought the game to 25-7 at 2:47 with the only make from the field in the opening half of play for her team.
Ottawa Glandorf again dominated the third quarter inside the paint as the duo of Glenn and Kaufman combined for 14 of the 22 points scored by the blue and gold. Kaitlyn Kimmet’s triple opened gates for OG in the first minute to push ahead 38-8. Kimmet would end the night with 15 points, her highest total of the season since a 16 point output early in the year against Kenton.
Senior Bee Kerigan Calhoun, an 11.5 point per game scorer did the bulk of the work for the visitors in the final stanza as she collected six of her nine points to go along with a three point goal she knocked down just in front of the buzzer to end the third.
6’0 junior Katie Kaufman finished off a brilliant second half and with career high tying 17 point effort in front of a crowd that featured her sister Erin Kaufman, now playing for Malone University early in the fourth as she pushed the Titans ahead 52-18.
Defensively the Titans held Bethel standout Karley Moore to just 11 points, a figure that falls four below her average for the season while allowing just seven makes from the field and a pair of three pointers to a team who averages nearly 50 points per game on the year.
Bethel falls to 9-2 overall and will next be in action on December 29th when they play host to Wayne.
“It was a good team win tonight. It was nice for our girls to get to play together as a team, with Chloee (Glenn) getting nearer and nearer to full go, with all of our players contributing. Our starters did a good job of playing defense and limiting Bethel’s offense while also finding some offensive consistency. Our second team when they came in didn’t allow any drop off in effort” said Titan coach Troy Yant.
Ottawa Glandorf (5-2) has now won two consecutive games and will be home on Thursday night as they welcome the Napoleon Wildcats into the Supreme Court for a 7:30pm non-conference affair that can be heard live on WZOQ Radio.
Scoring:
OG (60):
Karsyn Erford 1
Lily Haselman 3
Maggie Verhoff 6
Kaelyn Grothause 5
Myka Aldrich 3
Kaitlyn Kimmet 15
Katie Kaufman 17
Chloee Glenn 10
FT: 15/23
3’s: 5/12 (Kimmet 3, Verhoff 2)
TO: 14
Bethel (30):
Rhyan Reittinger 6
Maddie Montgomery 2
Izzy Halleg 2
Karley Moore 11
Kerigan Calhoun 9
FT: 10/14
3PT: 2 (Calhoun, Reittinger)
TO: 28
JV: Ottawa Glandorf 56-14