Cougars struggle in 44-33 loss to Bryan

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Not much went right for Van Wert during Monday night’s 44-33 non-conference loss to Bryan.

Leading scorer Nate Place (13.9 ppg) missed his second straight game due to a concussion, the Cougars had to battle early foul trouble and struggled from the floor (10 of 47, 21 percent), were out rebounded 40-20 by the Golden Bears and saw their four game winning streak come to an end.

“All the credit goes to Bryan tonight,” Van Wert head coach Mark Bagley said. “They outmuscled us, they probably had 20 offensive rebounds and we stood and watched the game most of the time.”

“For whatever reason we were not mentally ready to play,” Bagley added.

The Golden Bears didn’t shoot particularly well either, connecting on 14 of 44 shots (32 percent).

Van Wert led 7-6 after one quarter and trailed 19-15 at halftime, and Lawson Blackmore and Jake Hilleary were each saddled with a pair of fouls in the opening quarter.

Bryan’s Connor Shirkey hit a pair of buckets to open the lead to 23-15 early in the third quarter, but the Cougars rallied with baskets by Drew Bagley, Hilleary and Blake Henry to pull within two, 23-21, but that was as close the Cougars would get.

Bryan’s Drew Peters and Caleb Zuver drained back-to-back treys to give the visitors a 29-21 advantage and by the end of the quarter, the Golden Bears led 34-25.

Bryan (11-7) quickly extended the lead to 38-25 early in the fourth quarter and maintained a comfortable cushion for the remainder of the game.

“Unfortunately we predicate on made shots and we didn’t make shots, so everything else went (south),” Bagley said.

Reese Jackson led Bryan with 12 points while Bagley topped Cougar scorers with 11.

Van Wert (9-8) will host Bath on Friday then will play at state ranked St. Henry on Saturday.

“We need to go back to work tomorrow,” Bagley said. “There are so many things to fix from tonight and they can rest when the season is over at this point.”

Scoring summary

Van Wert 7 8 10 8 – 33
Bryan 6 13 15 10 – 44

Van Wert: Owen Treece 1-0-2; Tanner Barnhart 1-0-2; LeTrey Williams 1-2-4; Blake Henry 2-5-9; Lawson Blackmore 1-1-3; Jake Hilleary 1-0-2; Drew Bagley 4-2-11

Bryan: Connor Arthur 2-2-6; Adam Queen 0-2-2; Connor Shirkey 2-3-7; Titus Rohrer 2-1-5; Caleb Zuver 2-0-5; Reese Jackson 5-2-12; Drew Peters 1-0-3; Conner Lemons 1-2-4

JV: Van Wert 48-34