Battered Cougs manage win over Kalida

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Van Wert Cougar boys’ basketball team was on the ropes against Kalida on Tuesday night, but still managed to find a way to defeat the Wildcats 49-43 in a non-conference game Tuesday in the Cougar’s Den.

Van Wert’s top scorer, Corey Clifton, nursed a sore elbow from the weekend, but still managed to score eight of the Cougars’ 22 first-half points – six in the second quarter alone – to keep Van Wert close enough to catch the Wildcats in the second half.

Kalida had a three-point lead, 15-12, in the first period, and maintained that lead at the half as both teams scored 10 points in the second quarter for a 25-22 halftime score.

The big quarter for Van Wert was the third quarter, when the Cougars outscored Kalida 15-8 to take the lead, 37-33, with just one quarter to play. Jake Myers had five of the 15 points in the third quarter and 10 of his 13 points in the second half to help rally the home team.

Van Wert finished the Wildcats off with a 12-10 fourth quarter to preserve the lead, and the victory.

With the win, the Cougars go to 12-1 on the year, while Kalida falls to 8-4.

Myers led Van Wert, while the ailing Clifton had 10 points even with an injured elbow on his shooting arm. The senior will be examined this week to determine his playing status with a big game looming this Friday against Western Buckeye League co-leader Defiance at Defiance.

For Kalida, Kristopher Osterhage led all scorers with 14 points, but was the only Wildcat in double figures. Drew Stechschulte added 9 points for Kalida, while Austin Fleming scored 8 points for the Cougars.

Van Wert made 3 of 9 three-point attempts in the game (33.3 percent), but did much better from two-point range, knocking down 16 of 30 (53.3 percent). It wasn’t a great night for the Cougars at the free-throw line, though, as they made only 8 of 19 from the charity stripe (42.1 percent), including an uncharacteristic 2 of 8 night for Myers.

Kalida was 2 of 5 from beyond the arc (40 percent), while making 13 of 29 two-point tries (44.8 percent). The Wildcats were 10 of 19 at the line (52.6 percent).

The Putnam County squad had the edge in rebounds, 18-16, but also had five more turnovers (14-9) than Van Wert.

The Cougar junior varsity team was also victorious, beating the Kalida JVs 42-31 to go to 10-3 on the year. AJ Smith led Van Wert with 15 points, while Nathan Kortokrax was the Wildcats’ top scorer with 10 points.