MIDDLE POINT – Stuck in a tie early in the game the Ottawa Glandorf Titans engineered a 20-7 second quarter on Saturday night at Lincolnview High School as they opened the postseason with a 57-26 victory over Fostoria.
Myka Aldrich opened the scoring with a layup for the Titans before the Redmen took their eventual first lead late in the period at 7-5 on a jump shot by senior Jasmine Groves with 1:11 remaining in the quarter. Freshman Carlie Brinkman sent the blue and gold into the quarter break just before the buzzer leading 9-7 after a Katie Kaufman basket to put the Titans ahead.
Erin Kaufman opened the second period scoring with a free throw and helped to front the Titan defense in the period that held Fostoria to just a pair of free throws by Lyrique Johnson at 7:06 in the scoring column for nearly six minutes while OG built their lead to 21-14.
“I thought after the first quarter we really settled down defensively and locked in by taking away what they wanted to do on offense which forced them to come after us and we did enough to keep our composure” said OG boss Troy Yant.
Through the middle of the period Ottawa Glandorf freshman forward Kaitlyn Kimmet stamped her mark on the contest as she accounted for a six point personal run in just under a minute and a half to help the Titans bolster their advantage.
Groves struck again for the Redmen, this time from beyond the arc from the right wing to cut the lead to 21-12 with 1:49 before the break but watched as a five point run by Emma Brinkman and Lily Haselman beat the buzzer with a fast break layup to send the visitors to a 15 point lead.
Ottawa Glandorf who was slowed by sickness within their program early in the week showed no signs of slowing down on the defensive end in the second half as they held the Fostoria offense to just a single make from the field by Groves and a pair of free throws from Lyrique Johnson.
Erin and Katie Kaufman dominated much of the same period for OG as the sister act duo routinely found one another open for a basket or put back a miss from the other to score 11 of the Titans 19 markers. Senior Chloe Schroeder connected on a deep three point goal as well to send the WBL Champions to a 48-18 lead into the final eight minutes of play.
Freshman Carlie Brinkman and Aldrich put the running clock in play with a three and two respectively with 5:12 remaining and a 55-20 Ottawa Glandorf lead on the way to the final minutes melting off the clock to secure the win.
Lyrique Johnson paced the Redmen (11-11) with 12 points and an 8/8 performance from the free throw line while the Titans (16-7) were led by Katie Kaufman’s career high 16 points to lead all scorers.
“The Kaufman girls did a good job of pacing us and giving us the consistency we needed so that the other girls could contribute without pressure. I was pleasantly surprised by how we played after having three different girls out this week due to illness” said Yant.
Next up for Ottawa Glandorf is a Monday evening battle with Coldwater, winners over Paulding in the night cap. Monday’s game will tip at 7:30pm and can be heard on WZOQ Radio.
Scoring:
OG (57):
Chloe Schroeder 4
Lily Haselman 2
Emma Brinkman 3
Myka Aldrich 7
Carlie Brinkman 6
Kaitlyn Kimmet 6
Erin Kaufman 11
Katie Kaufman 16
Ashlynn Siefker 2
FT: 11/19
3PT: 3 (Schroeder, E. Brinkman, C. Brinkman)
TO: 15
Fostoria (26):
Brooklyn Holman 1
Christina Maurer 2
Garyana Overton 3
Lyrique Johnson 12
Alyssa Durst 2
Jasmine Groves 7
FT: 9/10
3PT: 2 (Groves, Overton)
TO: 19