The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Lady Cougars fall to Wayne Trace 40-32

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Van Wert got off to a fast start, but Wayne Trace stormed back then held on for a 40-32 non-conference girls’ basketball win on Tuesday night.

The Lady Cougars jumped out to a 10-2 first quarter lead, with six of those points coming from junior guard Jaylyn Rickard, plus a bucket each by Sofi Houg and Jamison Clouse. Houg went on to lead Van Wert with nine points, while Clouse finished with seven.

Van Wert’s Sofi Houg (30) tries to work out of a jam during Tuesday’s game against Wayne Trace. Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent

“We’ve really worked on having a positive start recently,” Van Wert head coach Hannah Phlipot said. “We wanted to jump on them quick and we did exactly that. We shortened it up to some short goals – win the first quarter, and we did that.”

From there, Wayne Trace held Van Wert (1-6) scoreless then scored the final seven points of the quarter, including a bank shot three by Claire Sinnto beat the buzzer.

“I think we picked up our defense a little bit and kind of got into the flow of things,” Wayne Trace head coach Bethany DeJarnett said. “We turned the ball over in the beginning and didn’t take good shots.”

The Lady Raiders (4-1) held a 13-12 lead early in the second quarter before going on a 9-2 run to end the period. Rachel Stoller hit a pair of foul shots and a basket during the run, and Sinn and Katrina Stoller each added two points to give the visitors a 22-14 halftime lead. Sinn was the leading scorer with 18 points, with 14 of those coming in the first half.

“We got some good stuff out of our offense and some easy shots that we finished,” DeJarnett said.

Wayne Trace scored the first eight points of the third quarter, including six straight by Rachel Stoller to push the lead to 30-14. Stoller went on to finish with 12 points.

Van Wert was able to respond with six consecutive points on two baskets by Caylee Phillips and one by Clouse, but Gracie Shepherd and Sinn each knocked down a pair of free throws to give Wayne Trace a 34-22 lead entering the final quarter.

The Lady Cougars closed the gap to six, 36-30 on treys by Jerica Huebner and Houg, but Wayne Trace was able to seal the game with a layup and a free throw by Katrina Stoller.

“We have some young girls so we have a lot of teaching things whenever it comes to those types of pressure situations, but I think we handled it the best we could tonight,” DeJarnett said.

“We’ve got to figure out how to get over mental mistakes,” Phlipot said. “We need to improve our shooting percentage. We’re not great shooters and our free throw percentage – we left a lot of free shots out there tonight that would have made this a whole different ballgame.”

Van Wert converted just 3 of 19 shots from the foul line, while Wayne Trace connected on 10 of 17 free throws. The Lady Cougars held a 27-24 rebounding advantage.

Despite the loss, Phlipot came away with some positive thoughts.

“Our freshmen and sophomore classes have been phenomenal,” Phlipot said. “Kyra Welch and Sofi Houg stepped into two starting roles tonight and played great. Sofi hit two big shots for us toward the end.”

“They have no fear – it’s a basketball game and that’s how they look at it no matter what level it is,” Phlipot added.

Wayne Trace will host Fort Jennings on Thursday, while Van Wert will entertain Wapakoneta the same night.

Scoring summary

Van Wert 10 4 8 10 – 32
Wayne Trace 9 13 12 6 – 40

Van Wert: Carly Smith 1-1-3; Jamison Clouse 3-0-6; Jaylyn Rickard 2-2-7; Caylee Phillips 2-0-4; Jerica Huebner 1-0-3; Sofi Houg 4-0-9

Wayne Trace: Claire Sinn 7-2-18; Miriam Sinn 0-1-1; Gracie Shepherd 0-2-2; Katrina Stoller 2-3-7; Rachel Stoller 5-2-12

JV: Van Wert 31-28

POSTED: 12/17/19 at 11:01 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports