Lady Cougs edge Shawnee in WBL contest

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

FORT SHAWNEE – It was an ugly win, but a “W” is still a “W” as the Van Wert Lady Cougars edged Shawnee 67-63 in a Western Buckeye League girls’ basketball thriller played Thursday at Shawnee.

With the win, the Lady Cougars are now 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the WBL, while Shawnee drops to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in league play.

The Lady Indians led by a basket, 14-12, after one period of play, but Van Wert came roaring back in the second stanza, going on a 20-6 run to lead by 12, 32-20, at the half. Shawnee then outscored the Cougars 24-16 in the third quarter to cut that lead to just four points, 48-44, heading into the final period of play.

It looked like the Indians wanted the game more than Van Wert early in the fourth quarter, as Shawnee took a 53-50 lead early on and led 58-54 with a little more than 3½ minutes to play in the game. But the momentum shifted back to the Cougars’ favor as Van Wert converted Shawnee turnovers into points and hit just enough free throws to ice the game at the end.

Van Wert had balanced scoring in the game, with four players in double figures. Riley Jones led the Cougars with 19 points, while Erin Morrow added 18 points and Alexis Dowdy and Emily Bair both scored 10 points for Van Wert.

Shawnee’s Clair Dahlke led all scorers with 21 points, while Rachel Evans added 16 for the Lady Indians.

The Cougars hit 18 of 25 from the free-throw line (72 percent), with Morrow making 10 of 12, including some clutch shots down the stretch. Shawnee made 4 of 7 (57.1 percent) from the line. Van Wert was 22 of 52 from the field (42.3 percent), while the Indians made 26 of 68 field goal attempts (38.2 percent).

The Cougars junior varsity team also won, 52-47, over Shawnee. Ally Jackson led the Van Wert JVs with 22 points, while Cassidy Sinning added 11 points. The Indians were led by Dionna Lewis’ 14 points.