Cougars struggle in 51-39 loss to Wapak

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Baskets and free throws didn’t come easy for Van Wert as the Cougars dropped Friday night’s Western Buckeye League opener 51-39 to visiting Wapakoneta.

Van Wert was just 13-of-50 (26 percent) from the floor and 9-of-21 (40 percent) from the foul line, but even with the shooting woes, the Cougars were very much in the game until late in the third quarter.

Wapakoneta (5-2) led 10-9 after the first quarter and with a late three-pointer by Noah Ambos, 22-18 at halftime.

The Redskins were able to stretch the lead to 26-18 early in the third quarter, before Owen Treece scored seven of Van Wert’s next eight points and tied the game 26-26 with 3:30 left in the period.

A pair of foul shots by Treece and a bucket by Aidan Pratt with 1:10 left in the third period pulled Van Wert to within two, 33-31, but Wapaoneta’s Zach Rogers and Jackson Courter hit back-to-back triples to give the Redskins a 39-31 lead at the end of the quarter. Those shots also sparked a 16-0 run, including five points by Ambos and four by Kaden Siefring early in the fourth quarter that helped increase Wapakoneta’s lead to 49-31.

Treece, who finished with 18 points, ended the scoring drought with a trey at the 3:51 mark of the final period.

“Once again the effort was there and other than that one stretch defensively I thought we did a lot of good things,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said. “The offensive stuff is frustrating but my message to the guys was don’t be frustrated because eventually that stuff is going to catch up.”

“I told my guys it’s not an excuse but they just played their seventh game and we played our second game,” the coach added. “They almost have more games than we have practices and that shows, but once we get our basketball legs going we’ll be fine, it’s just trying to survive that scoring lull that’s crept up for us these last two games.”

Wapakoneta was 19-of-37 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. The Cougars won the rebounding battle 25-22 and had just eight turnovers, compared to 10 for the Redskins.

Ambos finished with 16 points while Siefring also cracked double digits with 12 points.

Van Wert (0-2) will hit the road for the first time this season and will play at Wayne Trace tonight. The Cougars won’t play another home game until January 15.

“They’re young and talented and they’re going to present some matchups that if we don’t take care of those it could be a difficult night for us,” Laudick said. “Maybe going on the road is what we need right now, we’ll go there and maybe the basketball gods will smile upon us a little bit.”

Before the game, Van Wert eighth grade boys’ basketball coach Kerry Koontz was honored for recently earning his 300th career victory.

Scoring summary

Van Wert 9 9 13 6 – 39
Wapakoneta 10 12 17 12 – 51

Van Wert: Owen Treece 5-5-18; Garrett Gunter 2-1-5; Ty Jackson 1-1-3; Aidan Pratt 2-2-6; Nate Jackson 1-0-2; Evan Knittle 1-0-2; Ethan Rupert 1-0-3

Wapakoneta: Noah Ambos 6-2-16; Zach Rogers 3-1-8; Kaden Seifring 4-4-12; Braedan Goulet 1-1-3; Jackson Courter 3-0-8; Garrett Siefring 2-0-4

JV: Wapakoneta 53-42