Unbeaten Flyers outlast Cougar boys

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Van Wert Cougars hung tough with the No. 1-ranked Marion Local Flyers, but ran out of gas at the end to lose 52-43 in a non-conference game played in the Cougar’s Den.

The taller Flyers used their size inside to go up 17-10 in the first quarter, but Van Wert outscored Marion Local 25-19 in the middle two quarters to trail by a point, 36-35, at the end of the third period. But the Flyers picked the pace up in the final quarter, while Van Wert’s outside shooting cooled down, allowing Marion Local to outscore the Cougars 16-8 down the stretch to win by nine points.

With the win, the Flyers are now 9-0 on the year, while Van Wert falls to 4-5 overall.

Connor Holliday led the Cougars in scoring with 12 points, while Michael Smelser added 11 points for vAn Wert and Nathan Stoller scored 9. For Marion Local, 6-10 post Luke Knapke led the Flyers with 16 points, while 6-6 Adam Bertke had 12 points and Ryan Bruns and Troy Homan each had 9 points.

After a great night behind the arc on Friday, the Cougars were much colder on Saturday, hitting just 7 of 26 from three-point range (26.9 percent) and 14 of 43 from the field (32.6 percent). Marion Local was 15 of 25 from two-point range (60 percent) and hit 5 of 13 three-point attempts for a combined field goal shooting average of 52.6 percent. Van Wert hit 8 of 9 free throws (88.9 percent), while the Flyers were 7 of 10 from the line (70 percent).

As expected the taller Marion Local players dominated the boards, bringing down 27 rebounds to 12 for the Cougars. Van Wert had 9 turnovers to 12 for Marion Local.

The Cougar junior varsity team came through with a win, beating Marion Local’s JVs 37-26 to go to 6-3 overall on the year. Colin Smith was the only player on both teams in double figures, scoring 10 for the Cougars.

A busy week awaits Van Wert, with a home game against Elida on Friday, followed by an away game at Bryan on Saturday and another away contest Tuesday at Kalida.