State ranked O-G tops the VW Cougars

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

OTTAWA — Ottawa-Glandorf outscored Van Wert in each of the four quarters, and the state-ranked Titans (No. 3 in Division III) defeated the visiting Cougars 79-60 on Monday night.

The first quarter was a back and forth affair, with Van Wert jumping out to an early 7-3 lead on baskets by Jonathan Lee and Nate Place, along with a trey by Blake Henry. Bryce Schroeder knocked down consecutive triples to give the Titans a 9-7 lead, and the teams traded the lead four times after that.

Owen Treece’s three pointer put the Cougars up 20-19 with just over 90 seconds left in the quarter, but it would be the last time Van Wert led as Ottawa-Glandorf’s Owen Hiegel’s trey drilled a three at the buzzer to put the Titans up 22-20 entering the second quarter. Heigel would go on to finish with a game high 18 points.

Ottawa–Glandorf (12-0, 3-0 WBL) expanded the lead to 34-25 midway through the second period, but the Cougars trimmed the lead to 43-36 at halftime. Jacoby Kelly scored eight of his 17 points in the quarter.

On the strength of an 8-1 run to begin the third quarter, the Titans led 51-37, but the Cougars fought back with a run of their own. Drew Bagley hit a bucket, then Kelly accounted for seven consecutive points on a basket, a trey and two foul shots. A by a basket by Henry pulled the Cougars to within seven, 54-47, but Ottawa-Glandorf scored the final three points of the period.

After falling behind 61-49 in the fourth quarter, Bagley, Treece and Henry each hit baskets to make it 61-55. However, a pair of free throws by Jay Kaufman and buckets by Carter Heringhaus and Owen Hiegel gave the Titans a 67-56 advantage and from there, Ottawa-Glandorf outscored Van Wert 12-4.

In addition to Kelly’s 17, Henry finished with 17, Treece had 11 and Bagley had 10.

The Titans place four players in double figures – Hiegel (18), Ethan White (16), Schroeder (11) and Kaufman (10). As a team, Ottawa-Glandorf hit a dozen treys.

Van Wert (3-7, 0-3 WBL) will return home to play Shawnee (10-2, 2-0 WBL) on Friday, then will travel to Bryan (4-7) on Saturday.

Scoring summary:

Ottawa-Glandorf 22 21 14 22 – 79
Van Wert             20 16 11 13 – 60

Ottawa-Glandorf: BJ Fortman 3-0-8; Owen Hiegel 5-5-18; Jay Kaufman 3-3-10; Carter Heringhaus 2-0-6; Bryce Schroeder 6-0-16; Jake Dible 3-2-8; Trevor Siefker 1-0-2

Van Wert: Nate Place 1-1-3; Jacoby Kelly 5-6-17; Jonathan Lee 1-0-2; Blake Henry 6-4-17; Drew Bagley 4-2-10; Owen Treece 4-0-11

JV: Ottawa-Glandorf 63-40