Cougars lose battle royale to Lima Bath

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

LIMA – Never mind that it could have been the game of the season … never mind that Van Wert’s Jacob Myers had a career night offensively … the only thing that really mattered was that Lima Bath again came away the winner over the Cougars — this time after a double-overtime contest in the District II sectional championship game at Lima Senior High School.

Van Wert took the early lead, 14-8, over the Wildcats in the first quarter, but Bath stormed back in the second period, outscoring the Cougars 13-6 to take a one-point halftime lead. Van Wert grabbed the lead back in the third quarter with an 18-13 run and had a four-point lead heading into the final stanza.

Bath made a couple of treys, though, and outscored the Cougars 20-16 in the fourth period to tie the game at 54-all in regulation.

After both teams scored 10 in the first overtime to knot it up again at 64 apiece, Van Wert again had a chance to put the game away. However, a less-than-stellar free throw shooting night and an 0-for-11 performance from behind the arc, coupled with an inability to stop wide-body Nate Heffner inside, allowed Bath to edge the Cougars in the final OT.

Myers, a Van Wert senior playing in his last game for the Cougars, scored more than half of his team’s 73 points, knocking down 18 two-pointers and 8 of 11 free throws for an outstanding 42 points. Joe Moonshower was also in double figures with 13 points, but no one else was close for Van Wert.

For Bath, Heffner led the way with 26 points, while Brad Davis scored 16 and Taren Sullivan added 13 points for the Wildcats.

The Cougars were 28 of 59 from two-point distance (47.5 percent), but because they hit none of their three-point attempts, their field-goal percentage fell to 40 percent). Van Wert was 17 of 30 at the line (56.7 percent). The Wildcats hit 7 of 13 three-pointers (53.8 percent) and were 14 of 36 from two-point range (38.9 percent) for an overall field-goal percentage of 42.9 percent). Bath hit 25 of 39 free-throw attempts (64.1 percent).

The Wildcats dominated the boards, grabbing 41 rebounds to 30 for Van Wert. The Cougars had 16 turnovers to 14 for Bath.

Van Wert ends its season at 15-7, while the Wildcats are 16-6 and will move on to play Lexington in the second game of the district semifinals at Ohio Northern University in Ada. That game will be on Wednesday.