Cougars shoot well in upset of St. Henry

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Some great shooting by the Van Wert Cougars resulted in a come-from-behind upset win over St. Henry on Saturday in a non-conference game played in the Cougars’ Den.

Van Wert trailed by a basket, 11-9, after the first quarter and was down by six points, 27-21, at the half. The second half belonged to the Cougars, though, who outscored St. Henry 37-22 to come away with a 58-49 victory.

Van Wert got balanced scoring offensively, with four players in double figures, led by Josh Braun and Ryan McCracken’s 15-point performances (McCracken had four treys in the game). Jacoby Kelly added 13 points, while Colin Smith scored 10 points for the Cougars. Mitchel Stammen was the game’s high scorer with 29 points, while Jesse Niekamp added 10 points for the Redskins.

The Cougars shot an awesome 58.3 percent from the field (21 of 36), including 6 of 13 from three-point range (46.2 percent). St. Henry was 19 of 62 from the field (30.6 percent), including 4 of 25 from behind the arc (16 percent).

Van Wert was 10 of 16 from the free throw line (62.5 percent), while the Redskins made 7 of 8 free throws (87.5 percent).

The Cougars won the rebound battle, 31-27, but also had 10 more turnovers, 18-8.

The win raised Van Wert’s record to 5-14, while the Redskins fall to 14-6 on the year.

The Cougar junior varsity team didn’t fare as well as the varsity, losing to St. Henry’s JVs 55-35. Drew Bagley led Van Wert with 12 points, while Zack Niekamp had 13 points for the Redskins to lead all scorers.

The Cougars will return to the ‘Den on Friday to play Defiance in Van Wert’s final WBL home game of the season.