Lady Cougars down Elida in WBL contest

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Van Wert Lady Cougars used a balanced offense and stingy defense to defeat Elida 62-36 in a Western Buckeye League game held Thursday in the Cougar’s Den.

For the first time all year, Van Wert’s Erin Morrow outpointed her big sister, Alex, as the freshman post player scored 16 points, including three treys, while her sister, a senior, added 11 points and Molly Gamble, also a senior scored 12 points for the Lady Cougs. Elida had two players who scored 7 points each.

With the win, Van Wert is now 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the WBL. The Bulldogs are 4-8 overall and 2-2 in league play.

The Cougars led 15-10 at the end of a quarter and were up by 16 points, 31-15, at the half, thanks to some good “in your face” defense by Van Wert.

The third quarter played out mostly even as the Cougars scored 13 to 12 for Elida, but Van Wert again went on a roll in the final stanza, outpointing the Lady ‘Dogs 18-9 for the final 26-point margin of victory.

The Cougars were 23 of 50 (46 percent) from field goal range, and hit 9 of 13 free throws (69.2 percent). Elida was 15 of 53 (28 percent) from the field and 3 of 4 from the line (75 percent). The Bulldogs had a narrow edge in turnovers, making 12 miscues to 13 for Van Wert. The Cougars had more rebounds, though, 34-27.

Van Wert’s junior varsity team also won, 40-25, to go to 10-2 on the year.

The Lady Cougars will next play Tuesday, January 17, against Paulding. The game will be in the Cougar’s Den.