Van Wert Cougars hold off Celina 49-46

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

CELINA — A rough and tumble Western Buckeye League regular season finale between Van Wert and Celina came down to free throws.

The Cougars hit 9-11 foul shots in a 49-46 win while the Bulldogs connected on just 4-15 free throws during Friday night’s game at Dean White Court at the Celina Fieldhouse.

The biggest free throws came late in the fourth quarter. Clinging to a 43-42 lead, Owen Treece hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 2:02 showing on the clock. Colin Place did the same with 1:35 left, then Treece hit two more to put the Cougars ahead 49-42. Treece finished with a game high 17 points.

“Owen’s one of our better free throw shooters and then we had to beef up our lineup down the stretch to match their bigs and for Colin to come in and hit two key free throws for us, I’m real pleased with him as a senior stepping up when we needed him to,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said.

Celina’s Jack Duncan drained a triple with 22 seconds left, then hit a foul shot with 1.4 second showing on the clock, but a miss after that caromed into the hands of the Cougars, who held on for the win, Van Wert’s first in Celina since the 2011-2012 season.

“This is a very difficult place to win, at least if you’re a Van Wert Cougar,” Laudick said. “We’ll take it and we’re going to run with it. We knew it would be a one, two or three possession game late in the fourth quarter.”

The game looked like it might be a runaway early on, as the Cougars raced out to a 13-3 lead with 2:35 left in the first quarter. Jake Hilleary opened the scoring with a pair of treys, Parker Conrad scored and Treece added a pair of buckets.

However, Celina’s Josh Rasawehr hit a late three pointer to make it 13-6 entering the second period, then Duncan followed suit with a trey and Max Thobe scored back-to-back buckets to tie the game 13-13.

A trey by Ethan Wilson with 1:35 put the Bulldogs (2-20, 2-7 WBL) ahead 26-25, but Nate Jackson answered with a triple and the Cougars didn’t trail again in the game. Jackson finished with seven points and earned praise from Laudick for his defensive play.

“I thought Nate’s defense was superb in the second half,” Laudick said. “He showed us his toughness and strength. He battled and made some key stops and deflections for us down the stretch.”

Thobe tied the game 30-30 with an early third quarter triple, but Clayton Proffitt drilled one of his own, then Keaton Brown’s basket put the Cougars up 35-30, and Van Wert went on to lead 38-34 at the end of the period. Proffitt tallied nine points, all on threes.

“He (Proffitt) has that shooter’s mentality and we have confidence in him that when he does the right mechanics it’s got a great chance of going in,” Laudick said. “For him to answer a little run by Celina, that’s what we needed – another senior doing what we needed him to do.”

Van Wert finished 16-43 (37 percent) from the floor, while Celina was 17-47 (36 percent). The Cougars held a 25-18 rebounding advantage and each team had eight turnovers.

Van Wert (8-14, 4-5 WBL) will play Wapakoneta at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Division II sectional semifinals at Paulding High School. The Cougars defeated the Redskins 68-46 in December.

“I feel both teams are different than what they were earlier in the season,” Laudick said. “It’s going to be a fun challenge, but I think it’s one that our guys are ready for.”

Van Wert’s junior varsity team won 55-28 and ended the season 20-2.

Scoring summary

Celina 6 21 7 12 — 46
VWHS 13 15 10 11 – 49

Celina: Jack Duncan 2-1-7; Ethan Wilson 6-1-16; Andrew Quinn1-0-3; Max Thobe 4-1-15; Josh Rasawehr 2-1-5

Van Wert: Clayton Proffitt 3-0-9; Owen Treece 5-5-17; Keaton Brown 1-0-2; Nate Jackson 3-0-7; Parker Conrad 1-2-4; Colin Place 0-2-2; Jake Hilleary 3-0-8