Cougars fall to league-leading Bath

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Van Wert Cougars got off to a cold start against the league-leading Bath Wildcats on Friday night and that was pretty much the story as Bath went on to win the Western Buckeye League contest 61-49.

The Wildcats outscored Van Wert 18-8 in the first quarter, thanks to cold shooting by the Cougars as a whole — and top scorer AJ Smith in particular. Smith hit only 3 of 17 tries from the field in the game and scored just 7 total points against Bath.

While Joey Hurless picked up some of the slack with a 22-point offensive performance, it wasn’t enough to overcome the scoring balance of the Wildcats, who had four players in double figures, led by Connor Rockhold’s 19 points. Other Bath players in double figures included Rockhold’s twin brother, Logan, who had 11 points, while Colin Gossard also scored 11 counters and Taren Sullivan added 15 points for the Wildcats.

Van Wert also had nearly double the turnovers of Bath (11-6), although rebounds were about even at 27-29, in favor of Bath.

It was the shooting percentage that told the tale, though, as Van Wert hit just 18 of 51 field goal tries 35.3 percent, including a dismal 2 of 15 from three-point range (13.3 percent). In contrast, the Wildcats were 21 of 43 (48.9 percent) from the field, including 3 of 7 from beyond the arc.

Trailing by 9 heading into the final quarter, the Cougars were forced to foul and Bath did what it had to, making 8 of its total 15 free throws in the final stanza. For the game, the Wildcats were 15 of 24 from the line (62.5 percent), while Van Wert hit 11 of 16 free throw attempts (68.8 percent).

With the loss, the Cougars fall to 7-5 on the year and 2-2 in the WBL, while Bath is now 11-2 and 4-0 in league play.

The Van Wert junior varsity team escaped with an overtime win over the Wildcat JVs, 49-46, in the opening game of the night. Nick Keber scored 13 points to lead the Cougars, while Joey Moreland and Drew Myers each added 9 points for Van Wert. Cam Jenkins led all scorers with 14 points. The Cougar JV team is now 11-1 on the year and 3-1 in the WBL.

Van Wert plays again tonight, this time against non-conference opponent Bryan.