Lady Cougs lose by 1 to Fort Recovery

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Like the Van Wert boys game on Friday, the injury-plagued Lady Cougar basketball team started out well against Fort Recovery on Saturday. The girls then fell behind, and a fourth-quarter rally fell short as the Lady Indians held on to win by a point, 44-43, in a non-conference game played in the Cougars’ Den.

Van Wert got out to a nine-point first-quarter lead, outscoring the Indians 15-9 in the period, but Fort Recovery outscored the Cougars 15-7 in the second quarter to trail by a point, 22-21, at the half.

The Lady Indians then went on an 11-6 run in the third quarter to go up by five, 33-28, at the three-quarter point.

Van Wert rallied again, outscoring the Indians 15-10 in the final quarter, but couldn’t quite get over the hump, as Fort Recovery made 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch to edge the Cougars by one point.

With the loss, the Cougars fall to 2-9 on the year.

It was close at the end, though, as Erin Morrow tied the game at 43-all with a three-pointer, only to have Fort Recovery’s Kendra Siefring hit the front end of a 1-and-1 to put the Indians up by a point, 44-43.

The Cougars played for the last shot but a buzzer beater by Morrow was off the mark to give Fort Recovery the narrow victory.

Morrow led the Cougars with 16 points — nine of those in the fourth quarter — and was the only Van Wert player in double figures. The Lady Indians had two players in double figures, led by Jocelyn Kaiser’s 14 points. Tori Lennartz added 10 points, while Siefring had 9 points in the contest.

Free throws were critical in the game, with Fort Recovery making 9 of 12 and the Cougars netting 6 of 10.

The Van Wert junior varsity team won, 16-10, in a defense-oriented match-up with the Lady Indian JVs. The Cougar JVs are now 6-5 on the year.