Cougar girls knock off Kenton Wildcats

Van Wert independent sports

It was all tied up at the end of one quarter, but the Van Wert Lady Cougars pulled away after that to beat Kenton 51-36 in a Western Buckeye League match-up in the Cougar’s Den on Thursday.

The Lady Wildcats matched baskets with Van Wert for the first quarter, which ended in a 12-12 tie. But the Cougars upped the defensive and offensive intensity to outscore Kenton 15-9 in the second stanza and go up by six points, 27-21, at the half.

In the third quarter, Van Wert only scored 11 points, but held the Wildcats to 8, adding to their lead for a nine-point advantage, 38-29, at the three-quarter mark. The key statistic: the Cougars shot well at the charity stripe during the game and also went to the line a lot more times than Kenton, making 19 of 26 free throws to provide the margin of victory. Kenton was 2 of 7 from the free throw line.

Van Wert nearly doubled the score on the Wildcats in the final quarter, outpointing them 13-7 for the victory.

Alex Morrow again led the Cougars with 12 points, while freshman Alexis Dowdy added 11 points for the Cougars. Kenton’s Jackie Stalder led all scorers with 18 points.

With the win, Van Wert is now 6-4 on the year and 3-1 in league play. The Wildcats are 1-3 in the WBL and 5-4 overall.

The Cougar junior varsity team also won, 44-35, and is now 7-3 overall on the year. Jenna Weigle led the JVs with 11 points.

Van Wert will next play Saturday evening at Fort Jennings. Start time is 1 p.m.