The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Van Wert slips by Wayne Trace 34-32

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Free throws in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as Van Wert defeated visiting Wayne Trace 34-32 Tuesday night.

Maria Bagley converted a pair of foul shots with 3:14 left in the final period to put the Cougars ahead 32-26, then Sofi Houg knocked down two free throws with 42 seconds left to make it 34-28.

Kyra Welch (15) drives by Wayne Trace’s Christina Graham (20) during Tuesday night’s game. Bob Barnes/Van Wert independent

“They stepped to the line with confidence,” Van Wert head coach Hannah Phlipot said. “We work on free throws every day so there’s no difference in the pressure free throws we do in practice. They just stepped up and knocked them down when it counted.”

Wayne Trace (4-2) closed the scoring with a pair of layups by Rachel Stoller, including one at the final buzzer.

“I think they brought a lot more off the bench but I think my girls played hard and didn’t give up,” Wayne Trace head coach Bethany DeJarnett said. “We could have put our heads down and been frustrated with their press but I think we did a good job of adjusting and being where we needed to be.”

Van Wert (4-3) quickly jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the first quarter, including five points by Sayler Wise, but Wayne Trace scored the final eight points of the period to lead 9-8 at the end of the quarter. A bucket by Abby Moore to start the second period made it 11-8 but Van Wert scored the next nine points, including a pair of baskets by Carlee Young and a triple by Kyra Welch that made it 17-11. Wayne Trace’s Rylee Troth hit back-to-back treys to force a 17-17 halftime tie.

“She was tough and we know Rylee is going to be the tough girl who’s going to do whatever she has to do take care of the ball,” DeJarnett said. “She knocked down some pretty big shots to bring us back in the first half.”

The third quarter was a low-scoring, back and fourth affair, with Welch scoring four points and Young adding a three-pointer, while Rachel Stoller connected on 5-of-7 free throws, leading to a 24-24 tie at the end of the period. Stoller went on to lead Wayne Trace with 10 points, while Welch led Van Wert with 10.

Both teams will play on the road on Thursday. Wayne Trace will play at Hicksville and Van Wert will head to Defiance.

“They’re a WBL team so it’s always tough,” Phlipot said. “They’ve had some losses early but they’ve played some tough teams. Every night is a new night and we have to go out and execute our stuff.”

“We’re learning and we’re growing game by game and it’s nice to put a little winning streak together, but even early in the season we’ve continued to take every game and learn from our mistakes and right those for our next contest,” Phlipot added.

Scoring summary

Van Wert 8 9 7 10 – 34
Wayne Trace 9 8 7 8 – 32

Van Wert: Carlee Young 3-0-7; Sayler Wise 3-0-7; Kyra Welch 3-2-10; Sofi Houg 1-3-7; Maria Bagley 0-3-3

Wayne Trace: Rylee Troth 3-0-8; Abby Moore 1-0-2; Elise Miller 2-0-4; Harper Myers 1-1-3; Christina Graham 1-2-5; Rachel Stoller 2-6-10

JV (two quarters plus overtime): Van Wert 13-10

POSTED: 12/15/21 at 4:43 am. FILED UNDER: Sports