Cougars win on the Supreme Court

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

OTTAWA — The last time the Cougars won a game at Ottawa-Glandorf’s “Supreme Court,” Van Wert head coach Jeremy Best was a sophomore in high school. During the 1989-1990 season, Van Wert defeated the Titans 66-45 and since then, the Cougars had been winless there.

That changed Friday night, as Van Wert battled through some foul trouble and converted foul shots down the stretch for a 61-51 victory. The Cougars (15-3, 7-0 WBL) have now won six straight and 12 of their last 13 games.

The win sets up a first place showdown at home with Shawnee next Friday night, with the winner claiming at least a share of the Western Buckeye League championship.

“These guys continue to ‘Trust the Process’ and worry less about the outcome,” Best said after the win. “What they’ve done is buy them another ticket to play in another game that matters next Friday.”

Van Wert led 16-11 at the end of the first quarter, with Xavier Kelly and Cohen Bragg combining for nine points. The Cougars extended the lead to 23-15, but the Titans answered with a 7-0 scoring run to pull within one. After a Van Wert timeout, Bragg stopped the run with a trey and the Cougars later went into halftime up 26-24.

Zach Crummey picked up his third foul early in the third quarter, which sent him to the bench for the remainder of the period, but Keaten Welch stepped up with six points, including a trey to beat the buzzer and gave the Cougars a 42-32 lead. Griffin McCracken added five points in the quarter and Bragg added a pair of baskets.

“What pleases me most is watching my guys show care and concern for each other – turning adversity into celebration,” Best said.

Ottawa-Glandorf’s Jordan Schumaker tried to will the Titans back into it eight of his 10 points in the period, while Brady Fortman accounted for seven of his game high 22 points inte quarter, but the closest the hosts would get was 48-42 with four minutes left in the game. Crummey fouled out with 2:47 remaining, but Van Wert hit nine straight free throws in the final two minutes, including two each by Welch and McCracken and four by Xavier Kelly. The Cougars converted 15-of-18 foul shots in the quarter and finished 19-of-24 for the game.

Kelly led the Cougars with 18 points, Welch finished with 16, Bragg with 14 and McCracken had 10 points.

Van Wert will host St. Henry (13-4) tonight (4 p.m. junior varsity tipoff) before hosting Shawnee (13-5, 7-0 WBL) and Spencerville next Friday and Saturday.

Box score

Cougars   16  10  16  19 – 61

Titans       11  13    8  19 – 51 

Van Wert: Xavier Kelly 5-6-18; Griffin McCracken 3-2-10; Keaten Welch 3-9-16; Zach Crummey 1-1-3; Cohen Bragg 6-1-14

Ottawa-Glandorf: Brady Fortman 9-2-22; Adam Maag 2-2-6; Nolan Duling 4-0-9; Carson Kaeger 0-1-1; Jordan Schumaker 4-2-10; Royce Ellerbrock 1-0-3