Kalida whips Cougs in non-league game

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

KALIDA – A poor shooting night for the Van Wert Cougars, coupled with their inability to stop Kalida’s big men resulted in a lopsided 61-40 non-conference loss to the Wildcats on Tuesday.

Kalida took away the Cougars’ perimeter game, while successfully using its inside game to wear down Van Wert offensively.

Cougar top scorer Jacob Myers was held to just 7 points on the night – far below his 20-point average – and the 93-percent free throw shooter also went 0-for-3 from the line. No Van Wert player made it into double figures, although AJ Smith was close with 9 points, all of which came on three-pointers. The Wildcats had four players in double figures, led by Austin Horstman’s 17 points. Austin Roebke scored 11 points for Kalida, while Paul Utendorf and Drew Stechschulte added 10 points apiece.

The Cougars were completely taken out of their game, making just 4 of 12 three-point attempts (25 percent) and 14 of 39 from two-point range (35.9 percent). Van Wert normally makes more than 50 percent of its two-point attempts. Kalida was 3 of 4 from three-point range (75 percent) and made 23 of 50 two-point attempts (46 percent).

The senior-laden Wildcats also had the edge in rebounds, 28-21, and had two fewer turnovers, 18-16.

With the loss, the Cougars are now 9-3 on the season, while Kalida is 8-4 overall.

The Van Wert junior varsity team continued its perfect season, easily beating the Wildcat JVs 39-16. Kyle Keber and Matt Bidlack each had 8 points to lead the Cougars, who are now 12-0 on the year.

Van Wert will return to Western Buckeye League action on Friday as the Cougars visit Celina for a league contest.