Cougars struggle in loss to Celina

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

It was another disappointing game offensively for AJ Smith and another loss for the Cougars, who fell to Celina 55-45 in a Western Buckeye League contest played Friday in the Cougar’s Den.

While it’s been a tough struggle for Van Wert to try and find some kind of offensive balance this year, it was obvious Friday that Celina had plenty of that commodity, with three players scoring in double figures and another close with 8 points.

Joey Hurless led the Cougars in scoring with 15 points, while Smith, who was 2 of 18 from the field — including an 0 for 8 performance from three-point range — scored half of his 8 points with a 4-for-4 performance at the free-throw line. For Celina, Braden Billger and Aric Fickert both had 14 points, while Mason Ross added 12 points and Ryan Hoyng had 8 points for the Bulldogs.

Some of Van Wert’s offensive woes could be blamed on the Bulldogs, who played in-your-face defense for most of the game, blocking shots and causing the Cougars to rush some shots.

As a team, Van Wert made just 12 of 33 from two-point range (36.4 percent) and 3 of 16 from beyond the arc (18.8 percent) for a combined field goal average of 30.6 percent. The Cougars were much better at the line, where they canned 12 of 16 (75 percent). In contrast, Celina was blazing from two-point range, knocking down 26 of 37 (70.3 percent), although they missed all three of their three-point attempts for a total field goal average of 65 percent. The Bulldogs also made 75 percent of their free throws (9 of 12).

Celina won the rebound battle with 28 caroms to 20 for the Cougars, while Van Wert had fewer turnovers, 12-15.

With the loss, the Cougars fall to 9-6 on the year and 2-3 in the WBL, while Celina is now 6-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

Meanwhile, the Van Wert junior varsity team continued to roll, chalking up its 14th win against just one loss with a 39-31 victory over the Bulldog JVs. Brant Henry led the Cougars with 15 points, while Michael Smelser added 11 for Van Wert.

The Cougars will be on the road both days this coming weekend, with a WBL contest Friday at Defiance and a non-conference match-up against Lima Senior on Saturday.