Cougars wilt in 4th for loss to O-G

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Van Wert Cougars slowed Friday’s game against state-ranked Ottawa-Glandorf w-a-a-y down and the strategy worked … for three quarters, anyway. But the Titans adjusted with a four-corners offense in the final quarter that allowed them to find open men for easy buckets, while shutting down Van Wert offensively, and O-G came away with a 44-28 Western Buckeye League victory.

With the win, Ottawa-Glandorf is now 19-3 overall and 7-2 in the WBL, while the Cougars end the regular season at 11-11 overall and a 3-6 league record.

The Titans led 11-8 in the first quarter, but Van Wert outscored the Titans 11-9 in the second period to trail by just a point, 20-19, at the half. The Cougars were down by just five points, 31-26, with a quarter left to play when the bottom fell out, allowing O-G to go on a 13-2 run to put the game on ice.

The leading scorers of both teams were held well below their averages, with Van Wert’s AJ Smith garnering just a point on the night, and TJ Metzger held to 5 points — 19 points below his average. Top scorer for both teams was Van Wert’s Connor Holliday, who had 11 points in the game — the only Cougar in double figures. Noah Bramlage was the only O-G player in double figures, with 10 points, while Michael Rosebrock and Caleb Siefker each scored 8 for the Titans.

For the game, Van Wert was 10 of 28 from two-point range (35.7 percent) and hit only 1 of 6 three-point attempts (16.7 percent) for an overall field-goal shooting percentage of 32.4 percent). The Titans made 9 of 22 two-point attempts (40.9 percent) and were 6 of 9 from three-point range (66.7 percent) to shoot 48.4 percent from the field. The Cougars were 6 of 10 from the free-throw line (60 percent), while O-G was 8 of 11 from the charity stripe (72.7 percent), including 4 of 4 in the fourth quarter.

The Titans had the edge in rebounding, 20-18, and also had fewer turnovers, 4-10, than Van Wert.

In the first game of the night, the Cougar junior varsity team set a school record for wins with a 41-39 victory over Ottawa-Glandorf’s JV team. The victory gives Van Wert a 21-1 record on the year and the league championship. Nick Keber led the Cougar JVs with 16 points, while Drew Myers added 10 points for Van Wert. The Titans were led by Zack Kuhlman’s 14 points.

The Cougars will next play Elida on Wednesday in Division II sectional tournament play at Lima Senior High School.