OTTAWA – Thursday night the Ottawa Glandorf offense provided the heat to an otherwise chilly night as they rolled past visiting Napoleon 64-30 in non-conference action at the Supreme Court.
OG jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead on consecutive baskets by freshman Karsyn Erford and never looked back as they sprinted out to a 15-4 first quarter lead they would never relinquish.
Erford remained hot in the second quarter as she again tallied a pair of fast break baskets and was joined by teammates Katie Kaufman (six quarter points), Kaelyn Grothause (two points), Chloee Glenn (two points) and Kaitlyn Kimmet who connected from outside to send the game into the break 33-12.
Plagued by 11 first half turnovers the Wildcats found their points to be few and far between as they were held for the final three minutes of each period in the opening half without a basket. Senior Sophie Chipps, a 12 point per game scorer on the season was held to just a pair of back to back baskets early on in the second half to lead her squad with four in the first half.
Through the third quarter the Titans continued to use their immense pressure and ability to rotate quickly and deeply to push their advantage even higher while creating Napoleon offensive miscues.
Three different Titans in the form of Carlie Brinkman, Kaitlyn Kimmet, and Maggie Verhoff connected on shots from behind the arc for OG as part of a 17-10 third quarter that also saw Kaelyn Grothause swipe and score three times for markers.
Midway through the third period and following her made three point goal, OG senior Maggie Verhoff was taken to the locker room with an injury and would not return to the contest.
“It was terrible to see Maggie get injured again” said Titan boss Troy Yant following the contest.
Chipps led the Napoleon offense again in the third as she cut the lead in the opening seconds to 33-14 as part of her six in the period but watched as the Titans hit the buzzer leading 50-22.
Six Titan scorers punctuated the teams tally in the final eight minutes paced by Carlie Brinkman’s four as part of a seven point night while the Wildcats were kept in check for a pair of makes from the field and a trio of free throws. Napoleon’s only three pointer of the second half came deep into the ballgame from 6’0 senior Kora Burill who slipped behind the OG defense to knock down her only make of the evening in the 64-30 loss.
Yant opined on his teams performance “Our defense was solid and we got good offensive contributions from our starters and Chloee when she came into the game. I thought Katie and Karsyn played well, and late in the game Carlie Brinkman had some really nice rotations that might mean more going forward in light of Maggie’s injury”.
Katie Kaufman led all scorers on the evening with 13 points and was joined in double figures by Karsyn Erford and Kaelyn Grothause who each tossed in 10.
Sophie Chipps led the Wildcats (5-6) with 10 points. Napoleon, losers of two straight games will play host to the Northwest Signal Holiday Classic on Tuesday, December 27th, and Thursday, December 29th for their next action before returning to NLL play on Friday, January 6th against Anthony Wayne.
Ottawa Glandorf (7-2) has now won three straight games and will be in action twice more before the new year as they host Crestview on Tuesday night and travel to Route 65 rival Columbus Grove on Thursday, December 29th. Both games can be heard live on WZOQ Radio.
Scoring:
OG (64):
Karsyn Erford 10
Megan Horstman 2
Maggie Verhoff 3
Kaelyn Grothause 10
Myka Aldrich 5
Carlie Brinkman 7
Kaitlyn Kimmet 6
Katie Kaufman 13
Chloee Glenn 8
FT: 6/10
3PT: 4 (Kimmet 2, Verhoff, C. Brinkman)
TO: 10
Napoleon (30):
Karleigh Sonnenberg 2
Molly Rosebrook 6
Sophie Chipps 10
Ella Tassler 5
Jenna Oberhaus 4
Kora Burill 3
FT: 4/7
3PT: 2 (Burill, Tassler)
TO: 21
JV: OG 45-24