Raiders rally to top Van Wert 52-49

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

HAVILAND – It was a game of runs and Wayne Trace had the final run on the way to a 52-49 non-conference boys’ basketball win over visiting Van Wert on Saturday.

The loss dropped Van Wert’s record to 0-3, while Wayne Trace improved to 4-2.

Trailing 48-43 and held scoreless for the first 6:38 of the fourth quarter, the Raiders poured in nine of the game’s final 10 points. A layup by Trevor Sinn triggered the scoring run and it was followed by free throws by Cameron Sinn, Trevor Sinn and Kyle Stoller. Van Wert’s remaining point came on a foul shot by Ethan Brown.

“This was our third really close game and we finally pulled one out,” Wayne Trace head coach Jim Linder said. “We lost to Columbus Grove and Lincolnview but I knew once you get one it seems like you can get some more and you get some confidence. This was a big game for our confidence.”

“We hit some free throws late,” Linder added. “We missed some mid-fourth quarter but when we really needed them we stepped up and hit them.”

“The scoreboard doesn’t reflect it but I feel like we took a step forward in certain areas tonight,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said.

The Raiders opened the fourth quarter with a 43-36 lead, but Van Wert used a 12-0 run to erase the deficit and take the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter. Brown scored nine of his game-high 16 points in the period, including a pair of treys.

“I thought Ethan Brown had a really good game tonight and we need other scorers to step up and I thought he took a step in the right direction,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said.

Owen Treece finished with 11 points and in his first varsity start, Aidan Pratt finished with nine points.

“We knew coming into it that Wayne Trace was going to run some sort of junk defense…a box-and-one is hard to simulate in practice because we’re not used to running it and it created some difficulties for Owen but on the flip side we had some other guys who were more aggressive,” Laudick said. “Aidan Pratt had a pretty good game and there’s a lot of guys that did some good things.”

Wayne Trace raced out to an early 12-5 lead, but Van Wert trimmed it to 14-13 before Brooks Laukhuf drained a triple to give the Raiders a 17-13 at the end of the first quarter. Wayne Trace extended the lead to 25-16 early in the second period, then led 29-22 at halftime.

Cameron Sinn paced Wayne Trace with 14 points, while Laukhuf added 13. The Raiders were 18-of-49 from the floor and 14-of-18 from the foul line with 21 rebounds and 12 turnovers.

The Cougars finished the game 19-of-55 from the field and 4-of-9 from the free throw line with 31 rebounds and 14 turnovers.

Van Wert will travel to Ottoville on Tuesday while Wayne Trace will host Paulding the same night. The Wayne Trace-Paulding game will air live on 99.7FM WKSD and the Van Wert-Ottoville game will be carried live on WERT 1220AM/104.3FM.

In the junior varsity game, a layup by Nate Phillips with 1.7 seconds left gave Van Wert a 35-33 win. The Cougars trailed 14-2 at one point in the first quarter.

Scoring summary

Wayne Trace 17 12 14 9 – 52
Van Wert HS 13 9 14 13 – 49

Wayne Trace: Trevor Sinn 2-5-9; Cameron Sinn 5-3-14; Trevor Speice 1-0-2; Brooks Laukhuf 5-2-13; Cameron Graham 2-1-5; Kyle Stoller 3-3-9

Van Wert: Ethan Brown 6-1-16; Owen Treece 4-1-11; Garrett Gunter 1-1-3; Ty Jackson 1-1-3; Aidan Pratt 4-0-9; Connor Pratt 1-0-2; Ethan Rupert 2-0-5