VW Cougars fall at Ottoville 65-62

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

OTTOVILLE — The one-two punch of 6-5 sophomore Josh Thorbahn and 6-7 sophomore Ryan Suever was too much for Van Wert, as the pair combined for 50 points in Ottoville’s 65-62 victory over the Cougars at L.W. Heckman Gymnasium on Friday.

Thorbahn finished with 30 points, including a pair of critical foul shots late in the fourth quarter, while Suever tallied 20 points on the night, including six in the final period.

“They’re two special players and they work their butts off,” Ottoville head coach Keith Utendorf said of his two sophomores. “It’s a credit to them and they found themselves in the right spots tonight.”

“When two players score 50 of their 65, I don’t like our chances,” Van Wert head coach Mark Bagley said. “It was a difficult game and the second quarter just killed us.”

“I thought we were ready to roll but obviously Ottoville is a very good team, and give them credit,” Bagley added. “I don’t want to discredit Ottoville at all because they played a nice game tonight.”

The two teams were tied 15-15 entering the second quarter, but the Big Green outscored Van Wert 11-3 in the first five minutes of the period. Suever and Thorbahn combined for eight of those points to put Ottoville up 26-18. Lawson Blackmore scored five straight points off offensive rebounds to draw the Cougars to within three with 1:25 left quarter, but Van Wert was unable to score again before halftime.

Baskets by Drew Bagley, Nate Place and Owen Treece tied the game 29-29 with 6:05 left in the third, but Suever answered with five straight points to give Ottoville a 34-29 advantage. Place went on to finish with 19 points, Treece had 15 and Bagley scored 11.

The Big Green later pushed the lead to 45-35, then Van Wert answered with a pair of foul shots by Blake Henry and a bucket by Treece to close the gap to 45-39. However, Thorbahn drilled a triple to give the hosts a 48-39 lead entering the final quarter.

“We got back in it in the third quarter but we stopped rebounding and had layup turnovers, which killed us all night,” Bagley said.

The Cougars remained within striking distance the entire fourth quarter and trailed by three, 61-58, with 34 seconds left. Thorbahn hit two foul shots with 30 seconds left, then Will Miller hit two more with 14 seconds left to secure the win.

“It was nice in the fourth quarter to see our kids step up and make the free throws that counted to keep Van Wert at bay,” Utendorf said. “We needed a game like that, the adversity of them coming back at us and having to respond.”

Ottoville (8-2) will host Lincolnview tonight, while Van Wert (2-4) will travel to Columbus Grove.

Scoring summary

Ottoville 15 13 20 17 – 65
Van Wert 15  8 16 23 – 62

Ottoville: Joseph Miller 2-4-8; Ryan Suever 9-2-20; Josh Thorbahn 10-4-30; Drew Fisher 0-3-3; Will Miller 1-2-4

Van Wert: Owen Treece 6-0-15; Nate Place 7-3-19; LeTrey Williams 2-0-4; Blake Henry 1-2-5; Lawson Blackmore 3-2-8; Drew Bagley 5-0-11

JV: Van Wert 39-29