Cougars return home, pick up first win

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Call it what you want – a complete four quarters, a total team effort, answering the bell, or perhaps all three. Regardless, the Cougars put it all together to post a 55-45 victory over Bryan at the Cougar’s Den on Saturday.

It was the first home game since December 18, the first win of the season for Van Wert (1-7) and the sixth straight loss for Bryan (2-10).

“It does feel good to get the monkey off our back,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said. “I have a great group of guys in that locker room and they’re trusting the process and believing what we’re doing. We’ve been knocking on the door a few times but just haven’t been able to knock it open and tonight we found a way to do it.”

Working against a 2-3 zone used by the taller Golden Bears, Ethan Brown drained a pair of treys in the first quarter, but the Cougars trailed 10-8 at the end of the period. Bryan appeared ready to seize control of the game when AJ Martinez scored to give the Golden Bears a 19-13 lead with just over four minutes left in the second quarter.

Instead, it Van Wert who seized control. After a timeout, the Cougars held Bryan without a point the remainder of the quarter and went on a 20-4 run that extended well into the third period. Van Wert led 23-19 at halftime and stretched the advantage to 33-23 in the third stanza. Owen Treece scored 13 of his 22 points during the run, including three triples.

“Once you see a couple of shots fall you start to play with confidence and a little bit more of a swagger,” Laudick said.

The Cougars opened the final period with a 35-27 lead and 6-7 senior Titus Rohrer did his best to keep Bryan in the game by scoring 14 of his 26 points in the quarter. The Golden Bears cut the deficit to six, 39-33, with five minutes left, but back-to-back layups by Trey Laudick put Van Wert back on top 43-33. Later, Bryan pulled to within five, 49-44, but a pair of breakaway baskets by Brown helped seal the victory. Brown finished with a season-high 17 points.

“Ethan had a game earlier this year where he shot it when he was open and it kind of went away for a little bit, but we have confidence in him to be another scorer along with Owen,” Laudick said.

The Cougars finished the game 20-of-42 from the floor and 9-of-15 from the foul line with 14 rebounds and just eight turnovers. By comparison, Bryan was 16-of-43 shooting, 9-of-12 from the free throw line with 28 rebounds and 16 turnovers.

“I’m happy with all the guys that contributed,” Laudick said. “We moved up Maddux Crutchfield and he’s doing some good things, Connor Pratt’s coming off being sick and I thought Trey did some good things. Our bench guys may not play a ton of minutes but they did the little things and those are the things we need moving forward.”

Van Wert is scheduled to play at St. Mary’s Memorial on Tuesday, at No. 1 Shawnee and at Coldwater on Saturday.

Scoring summary

Van Wert 8 15 12 20 – 55
Bryan HS 10 9 8 18 – 45

Van Wert: Ethan Brown 7-0-17; Owen Treece 6-7-22; Garrett Gunter 2-0-4; Aidan Pratt 1-2-4; Nate Jackson 1-0-2; Trey Laudick 2-0-4; Maddux Crutchfield 1-0-2

Bryan: AJ Martinez 2-1-5; Evan Cox 2-1-6; Titus Rohrer 10-6-26; Canon Lamberson 2-1-6; Decota Shaw 1-0-2

JV: Van Wert 62-53