SPENCERVILLE – For the second night in a row the Ottawa Glandorf Titans started slow but recovered to score a road victory as they downed host Spencerville Saturday night 48-39 in a non-league tilt.
Spencerville opened up the contest with a quick 5-0 run on a three pointer from Kentucky Wesleyan commit Emma Leis and a basket from junior teammate Lilyan Goecke.
Unfortunately for the Bearcats the two markers would represent their last scores of the quarter as the Titans roared back behind Kelsey Erford and sophomore guard Lily Haselman to take a 6-5 lead with :25 remaining that they would never surrender.
Ottawa Glandorf stretched their lead to 13-9 early in the second quarter behind a three point goal from Anna Siefker but found themselves in a battle to keep control of the scoreboard as the hosts pulled within a point on a pair of occasions on scores from sophomore Gabi Croft and freshman Heidi Keller.
Erford, the reigning Western Buckeye League Player of the Year accounted for a pair of steal and scores to finish off the last of her 12 first half points and give the Titans a 21-14 halftime advantage.
In the third quarter the Titans continued to push their lead into double digits behind the duo of Erford and Emma Brinkman to 25-14 just a minute into the stanza. Spencerville’s first score of the second half came with 2:36 on a pair of free throw connections by Keller to cut the lead to 34-15.
Speaking about his 5’6 freshman guard after the game, 6th year Spencerville coach Greg Ekis opined “she really understands basketball and can really shoot.”
Spencerville fought back and connected with a pair of shots from behind the arc from Keller and junior Emme Prine but were unable to slow the OG running game and keep the Titans off of the scoreboard but did outscore their visitors 20-12 in the final eight minutes to trim the final deficit to single digits.
“We’re still a work in progress” said Ottawa Glandorf coach Troy Yant after the game while Ekis remarked “I thought we played hard this evening but against a good team like OG we can’t turn it over as much as we did or give them second chances. This game gives us the opportunity to learn and get better, I hope we are able to keep them on the schedule.”
On the evening the Titans were paced by Kelsey Erford’s 19 points and double digit rebounds while the Bearcats found a pair in double figures as Keller netted a team high 15 in her first game and was joined by Emma Leis who finished with 11.
Spencerville (0-1) will host New Knoxville on Tuesday evening at the Walk-In Closet while the Titans (2-0) will welcome Tinora to Robert J. Hermiller Gymnasium for their home opener on the same night.