ELIDA – Ottawa Glandorf jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first quarter of Thursday evenings Elida district semifinals and finished with a 46-40 victory over rival Liberty Benton.
Having met in the regular season just short of a month ago at the Supreme Court in Ottawa the two schools who are perennial postseason opponents entered the contest with a plan to slow down the others ability to take over a game.
Tied 2-2 after a pair of free throw makes by Erin Kaufman and Lauren Gerken of OG and Liberty Benton respectively, the Titans turned up the pressure in the game and raced out to a 9-3 lead on a score by Kelsey Erford, a triple from Anna Siefker, and a late quarter score from freshman post Katie Kaufman that forced the Eagles to take a timeout to regroup.
Held to just three points in the first quarter and with all coming from the free throw line the Eagles scored their first field goal with 7:14 remaining before halftime on the 69th three point make of the year from sophomore Riley Irwin to end an offensive drought of over six minutes of game action and cut the Titan advantage to 11-6.
Kelsey Erford’s three pointer from the left wing pushed OG ahead 14-6 just moments later before nearly the rest of the stanza would belong to the Eagles. Blanchard Valley Conference first team selection Lauren Gerken scored on three straight trips down the floor for Liberty Benton including a pair of free throws with :13 to go to tie the game at 16-16.
Similarly to how they were able to do on January 30th in the regular season meeting, Ottawa Glandorf finished the period with a dagger to pull ahead 19-16 thanks to sophomore guard Lily Haselman who knocked down a right wing triple just before the buzzer. OG mentor Troy Yant remarked “Lily Haselman had a pair of great plays, a three to end the first half and the play where she drew a charge against Lauren Gerken.”
Junior post Erin Kaufman missed most of the second quarter for the Titans as she was tagged with a pair of early fouls but emerged from the bench in the third and raced through the Eagles defense for six of her 12 points in the game while showing off a flurry of offensive post moves to the Union Bank Court crowd.
“We were fortunate, I thought the girls really stepped up while Erin was on the bench and I felt like she herself played very well in the second half.”
Liberty Benton scored their first lead of the game with 4:35 to go at 28-27 on a corner three point goal from the hands of the 5’11 Gerken but would find the advantage to be short lived thanks to baskets by Chloee Glenn and Kaufman before a triple from Anna Siefker sent OG into the fourth with a 34-31 lead just before the quarter horn.
Outside of a single make from the field to begin the quarter by junior Brooke Deeter the Eagles found themselves unable to make their mark on the scoreboard on any shot other than a free throw. Deeter and senior Lauren Smith combined to connect on seven of their eight charity tosses to try to keep Liberty Benton in the contest.
OG guard Kelsey Erford raced up and down the floor for a pair of baskets and hit on two of her four free throws while helping to procure makes from Kaufman and Glenn on her way to a team high 17 points.
“Kelsey controlled the game when we needed it” said Titan coach Troy Yant of his senior captains performance.
Liberty Benton bows out at 19-5 on the season with four of their losses coming to teams who call Putnam County home in the Titans (twice), Columbus Grove, and Kalida.
Ottawa Glandorf (22-2) will return to the Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 P.M. for a district finals matchup against the Fairview Apaches who were victorious in the nightcap over Delphos Jefferson 36-32.
Scoring:
OG (46):
Kelsey Erford 17
Anna Siefker 6
Lily Haselman 3
Erin Kaufman 12
Katie Kaufman 2
Chloee Glenn 6
FG: 19/37
3PT: 4/11 (Siefker 2, Erford, Haselman)
FT: 4/7
TO: 12
Liberty Benton (40):
Sophie Aschmeier 2
Riley Irwin 6
Brooke Deeter 7
Lauren Gerken 18
Lauren Smith 7
FG: 11/27
3PT: 3/13 (Irwin 2, Gerken)
FT: 15/19
TO: 12