The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Cougars surge past Kenton 66-37

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Van Wert shook off a slow start and went on to celebrate Senior Night with a resounding 66-37 win over Kenton on Friday.

Before the game, the team’s six seniors were among those honored – Nate Phillips, AJ Proffitt, Luke Wessell, Carson Smith, Garett Gunter and Aidan Pratt.

“They’re ultra competitive and super competitive,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said.

Aidan Pratt poured in 31 points against Kenton on Friday. Bob Barnes/file photo

As far as the game itself, the Cougars struggled against Kenton’s 2-3 zone early on and trailed 15-10 after the first quarter, with Pratt accounting for six points. Kenton’s Tyson Lawrence knocked down a pair of treys and Colby Quay added five points.

Van Wert (11-7, 3-4 WBL) tied the game early in the second quarter on a trey by Proffitt and a basket by Carson Smith, but the Wildcats darted back out to a 22-17 lead. That’s when the Cougars came alive and outscored Kenton 49-15 the rest of the way.

It started with a 10-0 run to close the half, including a buzzer beater by Pratt on a long bounce pass from Phillips that gave Van Wert a 28-22 advantage at the break. Smith tossed in five points during the run.

“Early on I felt just the ball was moving and everyone else was kind of stagnet, just standing around, so when we got the ball moving and people moving we made ourselves a whole lot harder to guard,” Laudick stated. “Once they figured it out, shots started to fall, we got to the free throw line and we were making layups. The coaches talked about this being Game No. 12 in 32 days so our legs early on just didn’t look like they were there but they found them in the second half.”

Behind three more buckets by Pratt and a pair of treys by Proffitt, the Cougars outscored Kenton 18-4 in the third quarter and led 46-26 entering the final period. Pratt, who finished with 31 points, added 12 more in the third quarter including a two-handed slam dunk and a triple from the right corner. Both coaches emptied their benches about midway through the fourth quarter.

Van Wert finished 25-of-52 from the floor and 10-of-16 from the foul line with 28 rebounds and 13 turnovers. After some early success, Kenton (7-12, 1-6 WBL) finished 12-of-45 shooting and 8-of-16 from the free throw line with 18 rebounds and 12 turnovers.

The Cougars will play at St. Henry tonight, with the junior varsity tipping off at 5:30.

“They’re big and physical, not height-wise but strong kids,” Laudick said of St. Henry. “They’re celebrating 100 years of basketball so I imagine it’s going to be a packed gymnasium. We really need to try to get that one to bolster our resume right before the tournament draw on Sunday.”

Box score

Cougars 10 18 18 20 – 66
Wildcats 15 7 4 11 – 37

Van Wert: Nate Phillips 1-1-3; Kaden Shaffer 1-1-3; AJ Proffitt 3-0-9; Luke Wessell 2-1-5; Carson Smith 3-0-9; Garett Gunter 1-0-2; Aidan Pratt 12-6-31; Conner Campbell 0-1-1; Colin Haggerty 1-0-3

Kenton: Tyson Lawrence 3-1-9; Ethan Yoder 4-1-10; Colby Quay 3-2-10; Dawson Miller 1-1-3; Parker Rarey 1-1-3; Manny Wilson 0-2-2

JV: Van Wert 63-32

POSTED: 02/03/23 at 11:07 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports