OTTAWA – Tied late in the first quarter the Titans snatched the lead from visiting Van Wert in their Monday evening Western Buckeye League contest and never looked back on the way to a 60-38 victory.
Trailing 13-10 with 1:29 remaining in the first quarter Ottawa Glandorf senior Kelsey Erford drained a shot from behind the arc to draw her Titans even while teammate Chloee Glenn pushed the home team ahead 18-13 with a personal five point run in the last :30 seconds on a pair of baskets that included her first three point goal of the season as the horn rang out.
Working with an ever increasing lead thanks to Cougars turnovers and their ability to turn opponent miscues to points in a flash the Titans upped their lead to 29-19 in the middle of the period before a triple by Van Wert sophomore Sayler Wise trimmed the advantage back to seven.
Erford and teammate Erin Kaufman scored six and seven points respectively for OG in the stanza and added baskets by Katie Kaufman and Myka Aldrich for a 35-22 halftime lead.
Van Wert sophomore and leading scorer Sofia Houg accounted for eight points in the first half and a pair of baskets in the third quarter but was unable to pull the visitors closer to their hosts as Erford, Lily Haselman, Alexa Fortman, and Ella Okuley accounted for baskets that kept OG ahead by 17 at the buzzer 45-28.
Carly Smith’s tenth three point goal of the year brought the Cougars within 15 in the middle of the final eight minutes while teammate Allison Schaufelberger fought her way to a three of four performance from the free throw line as she would continue to duel with the Titan post defense.
Ottawa Glandorf’s fourth quarter run was punctuated by a triple of their own from Anna Siefker and multiple baskets from Erin Kaufman and Kelsey Erford that helped to secure a 60-38 victory when the final buzzer sounded.
Van Wert (5-8, 2-3) who was playing their first game in nearly two weeks was led in scoring by Sofia Houg with 14 points in the game. The Cougars head to Kenton on Thursday night for WBL play before playing host to Bryan on Monday evening.
OG improves to 15-2 overall, and 5-1 in conference games with their 26th straight home victory and were paced by Erford with 17, Erin Kaufman’s 13, and 9 from Chloee Glenn .
Thursday evening the Titans will head to Lima for a league tilt as they battle the Shawnee Indians at 7:3o P.M. in a game that will be broadcast live on WZOQ Radio
Scoring:
OG (60):
Kelsey Erford 17
Anna Siefker 3
Lily Haselman 2
Ella Okuley 4
Alexa Fortman 3
Myka Aldrich 5
Erin Kaufman 13
Katie Kaufman 4
Chloee Glenn 9
FT: 3/10
3PT: 3 (Glenn, Erford, Siefker)
TO: 13
Van Wert (38):
Carly Smith 9
Sayler Wise 3
Sofia Houg 14
Allison Schaufelberger 9
Kyra Welch 3
FT: 4/8
3PT: 4 (Houg 2, Smith, Wise)
TO: 19
JV: (2 quarters) – OG 24-11