Coldwater controls game, beats VW 66-48

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

A 15-0 second quarter scoring run along with rebounding, especially on the offensive end, were two key factors in Coldwater’s 66-48 win over Van Wert High School on Saturday.

The Cavaliers finished with a 36-18 rebounding edge, including a dozen offensive rebounds.

“When you can put all five starters over six foot it’s going to create some matchup problems not only for us but for a lot of teams,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said. “They’re long and athletic and they made us pay for it.”

Things looked good for Van Wert late in the first quarter, when a triple by Clayton Proffitt gave the Cougars a 16-8 lead. However, the Cavaliers answered with seven straight points, including four by Tyler Schwieterman, but Proffitt drilled his second trey of the period to give Van Wert a 19-15 lead entering the second quarter.

Schwieterman was another key for the Cavaliers, as he came off the bench to lead the team with 17 points.

Coldwater (7-8) opened the period with 15 unanswered points, including 10 by Ethan Post, who hit a pair of shots from beyond the three point arc and two other baskets and finished the night with 15 points. Noah Miller added a trey and a pair of free throws to help the Cavaliers go up 34-24 at halftime.

“After Friday night’s emotional, physical game against a league opponent, I was worried about what would happen,” Laudick said. “We came out with a lot of energy and in the second quarter we missed three layups in a row and unfortunately they went down and made shots, and it kind of ballooned from there.”

The Cougars were held scoreless until the 3:11 mark of the second quarter, when Owen Treece converted a pair of foul shots and Van Wert’s only other points of the period came later in the period on a Proffitt three pointer. Proffitt finished the game with 12 points, all on treys.

In the third quarter, Coldwater pushed the lead to seven, 41-27, and had four offensive rebounds, including three by Miller, that led to second chance points. By the end of the period, the Cavaliers extended their lead to 47-34.

A early fourth quarter bucket by Treece pulled Van Wert to within nine, 49-40, but the Cougars could draw no closer. Treece led Van Wert with 14 points, with 10 of those coming in the second half.

“Once again our guys were resilient and gave great effort but just ran out of steam,” Laudick said.

The Cougars finished the night 17-42 (40 percent) from the floor and 3-9 from the foul line with 20 turnovers, while Coldwater was 26-43 (60 percent) from the floor and 10 of 18 from the free throw line with 13 turnovers.

Van Wert (3-11) will travel to Kenton on Friday, then will held to Bryan for a 2 p.m. junior varsity start the following day.

“Those are two long bus rides and we’ll try to do some different things,” Laudick. “It’s just not working out on the scoreboard like we want it to and we’ll tinker with some things, because I know they’re not happy giving up 66 points, so we’ll try to figure out ways to make it better.”

Scoring summary

Van Wert 19 5 10 14 – 48
Coldwater 15 19 13 19 – 66

Van Wert: Clayton Proffitt 4-0-12; Owen Treece 5-2-14; Keaton Brown 3-2-10; Tanner Barnhart 1-0-2; Nate Jackson 1-0-2; Parker Conrad 0-1-1; Jake Hilleary 3-0-7

Coldwater: Jake Hemmelgarn 2-1-7; Myles Blasingame 4-0-8; Tyler Schwieterman 8-1-17; Jay Mulenkamp 1-0-2; Carson Mulenkamp 1-0-2; Will Broering 2-0-4; Ethan Post 6-0-15; Noah Miller 3-4-11

JV: Van Wert 47-45 (OT)