OTTAWA – Thursday night Ottawa Glandorf raced back from an early deficit to down visiting Van Wert 62-34 and remain unbeaten in the Western Buckeye League.
Hoping to end their 10-game skid in the series the Van Wert Cougars pounced on OG early as the behind the senior duo of Sofi Houg and Maria Bagley for a 4-0 advantage.
Van Wert continued to lead through the middle of the first stanza all the way to 9-7 before a tying free throw from Lily Haselman and a go-ahead triple by freshman Karsyn Erford pushed the hosts into a 12-9 advantage they would never relinquish.
After taking the lead with 1:53 the Titans pressure defense turned Cougars miscues into an 8-2 run fueled by fast break makes from Erford, Haselman, and Carlie Brinkman.
“I thought Van Wert came out with better energy than us as our lineup was affected by a little sickness and it took us out of our rhythm” commented Ottawa Glandorf boss Troy Yant.
While offense was at a premium in the first quarter it became increasingly scarce in the second as the teams combined for just 13 points. Van Wert fought to keep the lead near six points for most of the period with baskets from Houg and Kyra Welch while the Titans pushed across just a pair of makes from Carlie Brinkman and a free throw to hold on to a 25-19 mark at the break.
Senior post Erin Schaufelberger notched the final points of the first half for the Cougars and their only points from the field in the third but was forced to spend significant time on the visiting bench in foul trouble through the middle quarters.
Seven different Titans found the bottom of the basket in the games third period as part of a 16-6 run that produced six of the Cougars 22 turnovers on the night.
The Van Wert duo of Sofi Houg and Kyra Welch, the two leading scorers for the Cougars were held to just nine points in the second half by the Titan defensive pressure with all but a single three pointer by Welch late in the contest coming from the free throw line.
OG knocked down a pair of three’s of their own in the fourth as a triple from Karsyn Erford and Emma Brinkman helped run the lead to 56-29 late in the game. Titan sophomore Megan Horstman ended her night with a career high seven points in expanded minutes while freshman Maddie Leibrecht ended tossed in her first career markers with a minute to go to cement the win.
Van Wert (9-7, 3-3) finished with six scorers on the night and will next be in action on Thursday, January 26th in WBL play as they host Shawnee.
Next up for the #3 ranked Titans (14-2) who remain unbeaten at 6-0 in the conference is a Saturday late afternoon tilt in Toledo against Toledo Central Catholic with a 5pm varsity start that can be heard live on WZOQ Radio.
OG was led by Karsyn Erford’s 14 point effort was 10th double figure game of the season to lead all scorers in the contest.
“I thought Katie Kaufman gave us good production off of the bench as did Myka Aldrich. We also got very solid contributions from Carlie Brinkman and Megan Horstman. The difference was a strong third quarter that let us rest some of our starters and get some varsity minutes for some freshman to get their first game jitters over with” opined Titan mentor Troy Yant after his teams win.
Scoring:
OG (62):
Karsyn Erford 14
Megan Horstman 7
Lily Haselman 5
Kaelyn Grothause 6
Emma Brinkman 3
Myka Aldrich 6
Carlie Brinkman 6
Kaitlyn Kimmet 5
Katie Kaufman 8
Maddie Leibrecht 2
FT: 7/14
3PT: 3 (Erford 2, E. Brinkman)
TO: 12
Van Wert (34):
Jordanne Blythe 2
Kyra Welch 12
Sofi Houg 11
Maria Bagley 3
Claire Benner 2
Erin Schaufelberger 4
FT: 7/15
3PT: 1 (Welch)
TO: 22
By Quarter:
OG – 20-5-16-19
VW – 11-8-6-9
JV: OG (16-0) 63-12