Cougars rally by Wayne Trace 58-55

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

HAVILAND — Van Wert and Wayne Trace have made it a habit to go down to the wire and Saturday’s game was no exception.

The Cougars struggled for three quarters but came up big in the final period and rallied for a 58-55 win over the Raiders. It was the second loss at home in as many nights for Wayne Trace,(3-2), while Van Wert improved to 3-1.

The Cougars trailed 43-35 early in the fourth quarter but chipped away and tied the game 48-48 with 3:30 left. Garett Gunter sparked the run with a key triple, then Nate Phillips hit back-to-back triples to tie the game. After a pair of Brooks Laukhuf free throws, Aidan Pratt put Van Wert ahead for good with a trey of his own, making it 51-50. Luke Wessell took over after that, scoring the final seven points on three baskets and a foul shot. Laukhuf hit a trey with under five seconds left but the Raiders were out of timeouts and couldn’t stop the clock.

“It’s a super resilient group,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said. “I’m really happy with all the guys who stepped up. There’s so many different plays we could talk about but I’m just happy for our guys and the plays they made in this victory. It was a total team effort.”

“Van Wert is a very nice team,” Wayne Trace head coach Jim Linder said. “I thought we played well enough to win it but at the end they made enough shots by several different people. They are senior dominated and didn’t panic – you have to give them credit.”

Wayne Trace led 12-11 after one quarter, then stretched the lead to 33-23 by halftime. Laukhuf had 18 points at the break, including 11 in the second quarter, while Tyler Davis drained a pair of second quarter treys. The Raiders finished the first half 7-of-8 from three point range. Meanwhile, Pratt accounted for 13 of Van Wert’s 23 first half points.

“The first half was tough to say the least, all the way from the free throw line to guarding on the other end of the floor,” Laudick said. “We really didn’t do a lot of things right in the first half.”

After a Gunter trey, the Cougars trailed 35-31 with 3:10 left in the third quarter, but Wayne Trace answered with six points, including four by Laukhuf, to push the lead to 41-31. Gunter beat the buzzer with a bucket make it 41-35 at the end of the quarter.

Pratt led Van Wert with 20 points, Gunter had 10 and Phillips and Wessell each finished with nine points. The Cougars were 22-of-45 from the floor, including 9-of-17 from three point range, but just 3-of-11 from the foul line, missing on the first seven attempts. Van Wert won the rebounding battle 21-13.

Laukhuf led all scorers with 35 points, while Tanner Laukhuf added eight. Wayne Trace was 20-of-38 shooting, including 10-of-15 from outside the arc, and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.

“That was one of the more incredible performances that I’ve coached against,” Laudick said of Laukhuf’s scoring outburst. “His 18 points in the first half came pretty easy but we made him work for the 17 in the second half. We even had two guys in his face at the end of the game and he hit a three to get to 35 points. He’s an incredible player and a gym rat.”

Van Wert will play at Ottoville on Tuesday and at Columbus Grove on Friday, while Wayne Trace will play at Lima Central Catholic on Thursday and at Arlington on Friday.

Box score

Cougars 11 12 12 23 – 58
Raiders 12 21 8 14 – 55

Van Wert: Carson Smith 2-0-5; Garett Gunter 3-2-10; Aidan Pratt 9-0-20; Nate Phillips 3-0-9; Luke Wessell 4-1-9; AJ Proffitt 2-0-5

Wayne Trace: Brooks Laukhuf 13-3-35; Tyler Davis 2-0-6; Kyle Stoller 2-2-6; Tanner Laukhuf 3-0-8

JV: Van Wert 31-29