VW Cougars pull away from Celina

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

Balanced scoring and an impressive third quarter were big keys to Van Wert’s third victory of the season, as the Cougars downed Celina 50-35 at the Cougar’s Den on Friday.

It was the second straight victory for the Cougars (3-4, 1-1 WBL), who started two freshman (Xavier Kelly and Zach Crummey), two sophomores (Keaten Welch and Cohen Bragg) and a junior (Griff McCracken). It was also the fifth straight game Van Wert held an opponent to 47 points or less.

McCracken got the Cougars off to a fast start, as the 5-8 junior sharpshooter scored eight of Van Wert’s 17 first quarter points, including a pair of treys.

“Griff’s a guy who’s been shooting the ball very well and hopefully that can continue,” Van Wert head coach Jeremy Best said. “He plays with a lot of confidence and a lot of moxie.”

Both teams scored just eight points in the second quarter and after leading 17-11 to start the period, Van Wert led 25-19 at halftime. Celina was kept off the scoreboard for the final three minutes of the second stanza.

“As we continue to move along and move from one week to the next, it’s all about the process of trying to get real good at doing the simple things,” Best said. “These guys are buying into that – they don’t always execute that idea but I thought we got off to a good start. It was not a great second quarter and we talked about some things we needed to do better during halftime and we played one of our best quarters in the third quarter.”

The Cougars seized control of the game in the third quarter. McCracken popped in five quick points, then Welch scored five of his own, including a left wing three pointer at the 5:30 mark, a bucket that capped off a 10-2 scoring run to open the period. After a basket by Celina’s Kaiden Werntz, Crummey hit back-to-back baskets, including a crowd-pleasing slam dunk that pushed Van Wert’s lead to 39-23. From there, the hosts took a 43-27 advantage into the fourth quarter.

“We see Zach just continuing to grow and get more comfortable in his own skin,” Best said. “He’s a young player out there amongst older players but if you would walk in the gym you wouldn’t know that unless you know who he is. I just appreciate how he comes to practice every day ready to practice and get better because he’s influential with a lot of our guys – he’s one of our better practice players. I think our guys respect him a lot.”

Crummey added a pair of baskets in the final period and finished with a team high 15 points. Werntz led all scorers with 18 points.

Van Wert shot nearly 50 percent (19-of-40) from the floor, hit 4-of-8 foul shots and pulled down 20 rebounds, while committing just seven turnovers. The Bulldogs connected on 15-of-37 shots (40 percent), but went just 1-of-12 from three point land. Celina convered 4-of-5 free throws, had 15 rebounds and committed 10 turnovers.

“I thought defensively as a team we just continue to get better in that area,” Best said.

The Bulldogs (1-4, 1-1 WBL) were led in scoring by Werntz, who finished with a game high 18 points.

Van Wert will host Lima Central Catholic today, with the junior varsity contest tipping off at 4 p.m.

Box score

Cougars  17   8  18   7 – 50

Bulldogs  11   8    8   8 – 35

Van Wert: Xavier Kelly 2-1-5; Griff McCracken 5-0-13; Keaten Welch 5-0-12; Caden Collins 1-0-2; Zach Crummey 6-3-15; Cohen Bragg 1-0-3

Celina: Carson Weitzel 1-0-2; Kaiden Werntz 8-2-18; Gavin Wicker 2-2-6; Braylon Parker 1-0-3; Zaden Rolfes 1-0-2; Logan Billerman 2-0-4

JV: Celina 39-14