D-II district preview: Van Wert vs. Defiance

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

One thing is guaranteed at the Division II boys district at Ohio Northern University: a Western Buckeye League team will be crowned as the champion and will advance to next week’s regionals at Bowling Green State University.

In a rematch of a February 8 game won by Shawnee (49-47) the No. 1 seed Indians will take on No. 5 seed Elida in Wednesday’s 6:15 p.m. game at ONU’s King Horn Sports Center, followed by No. 6 seed Van Wert and No. 3 seed Defiance in the nightcap. The winners will meet up at 7 p.m. Saturday for the right to move on to next week’s “Sweet 16.”

The Cougars (15-9) and Bulldogs (14-10) played in the regular season finale on February 22, with Van Wert winning 67-58. Owen Treece led the way with 21 points, while D.J. Dobson poured in 19 for Defiance.

After that, Van Wert downed Bath 66-47 then rallied from a 25-7 second quarter deficit to upset No. 2 seed Wauseon and win the Findlay upper bracket sectional championship, while Defiance beat Maumee 56-30 and Wapakoneta 42-35 to claim the lower bracket sectional title.

“We have a quote in our locker room that says ‘the game honors toughness,’” Van Wert head coach Mark Bagley said. “That’s not just physical toughness, but it’s mental toughness and that’s the one thing our kids have shown all year long, through injuries and things – we have become a much tougher team and Friday night we proved that, but now that’s over and done with and our focus is on Defiance.”

Defiance was 10-2 after 12 games, then, due in part to injuries, finished the regular season by winning two of 10 games.

Despite missing time due to injuries, Tyrell Goings leads the Bulldogs, averaging 12.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, followed by Will Lammers (11.7 ppg) and D.J. Dobson (9.7 ppg). Teamwise, Defiance averages 52.9 points per game and gives up 51 points per contest.

“They’re very well coached,” Bagley said of Defiance. “Coach Lehman has been around for a long time.”

“They were banged up – Goings only played about eight or 10 minutes against us the first game and now he’s up to 20-plus. He was in foul trouble on Friday (vs. Wapakoneta), but he adds a scoring presence and right now Lammers, who is averaging about 11 points, is averaging 18 a game over his last five games. He’s a very explosive shooter and is capable of going off. Then the Dobson kid, who is their point guard, is really improved.”

When you have three kids who can score, that makes them really dangerous and their role players all know what their roles are. Defensively, they played a lot of man to man the first game, but they’ve been playing a ton of 2-3 matchup zone their last several games, including all game against Wapak.”

On the flip side, Defiance head coach Kirk Lehman has a great deal of respect for the Cougars.

“Van Wert is a team I think is now hitting their stride,” Lehman said. “With injuries and a late start due to football success it took them a little bit, but they are playing extremely well. They have all the ingredients, great senior leadership, they play very good defense and they have a lot of guys that can score.”

As of late, the Cougars have enjoyed consistent double digit games from Owen Treece, Nate Place and Drew Bagley. Blake Henry has reached double digits in both tournament games and Lawson Blackmore and LeTrey Williams have been key contributors. As a team, Van Wert is averaging 55 points per game while allowing 52.4.

Looking back, after a 5-7 start the Cougars have won 10 of their last 12 games and five straight since a 51-26 loss to state ranked St. Henry on February 9.

“That was the make or break part of our team,” Bagley said. “We came back and had a very frank and honest discussion in our locker room and our kids were very clear minded during that discussion.”

“They had a sense of purpose and they knew what they had to do to be successful. We knew what the formula was, but we just weren’t consistent enough, so I’ve been very impressed with how well they’ve handled the mental and physical aspects.”

“Even through highs and lows – the first 12 minutes of the game vs. Wauseon – it was the worst 12 minutes of basketball we may have played all year long, but the resilience and grit our kids showed to finish the half and finish the game just shows you how good we can be.”

As for an all-WBL district, both coaches say it’s tribute to just how good the league was this season.

“I think the all-WBL district speaks to the toughness and the competitiveness of the league,” Lehman said. “It is a very good league.”

“It shows you the quality of our league,” Bagley said. “Seven of the 10 teams have won 14 or more games to this point. The depth of our league is outstanding.”

Wednesday’s Van Wert-Defiance game will air live on WERT 1220AM/104.3FM.