Cougars fall short against Shawnee 60-55

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

It seemed like it was an uphill battle much of the night for Van Wert.

After taking a brief second quarter lead, the Cougars fell behind and couldn’t fully recover in a 60-55 loss to Shawnee on Winter Sports Senior Night at the Cougar’s Den on Friday.

“Physically we hung in there but mentally we weren’t as sharp as we have been in the past,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said.

The Cougars (9-6, 2-3 WBL) fell behind 7-1 early, but scored 11 straight points to take a 12-7 lead early in the second quarter. The run included back-to-back buckets by Nate Phillips and four points by Aidan Pratt. A triple by Garett Gunter put Van Wert ahead 15-9 but the Indians rallied for a 23-20 halftime lead, with Austin Miller scoring seven of his 19 points in the second period.

An 11-0 third quarter run by Shawnee (10-6, 4-2 WBL) put the Indians ahead 38-24, with Miller accounting for five of those points. When the quarter ended, Shawnee had a 44-36 lead.

The lead stretched to 11 in the fourth quarter but Van Wert trimmed it to four, 58-54, late in the period before two three point attempts glanced off the rim.

Pratt led all scorers with 26 points, including 21 in the second half. Phillips added nine and the Cougars were 21-of-44 from the floor and 13-of-21 from the free throw line.

“I talked to Nate in the locker room after the game and told him this is the Nate Phillips we need moving forward,” Laudick said. “I felt he was aggressive going to the basket and he did some really good things.”

Austin Miller led Shawnee with 19 points, including a pair of slam dunks, and Ja’Mari Johnson had 14 points before fouling out with 2:42 left in the game. The Indians were 23-of-49 shooting and just 7-of-17 from the foul line, including 3-of-9 in the fourth quarter.

Van Wert will return to action Tuesday at Delphos St. John’s.

“Coach (Aaron) Elwer will have them ready to play and they’re going to defend like crazy,” Laudick said. “It’s a tough place to win.”

Box score

Shawnee 7 16 21 16 – 60
Van Wert 5 15 16 19 – 55

Van Wert: Ethan Brown 2-1-5; Carson Smith 2-1-6; Garett Gunter 3-0-7; Aidan Pratt 10-6-26; Maddix Crutchfield 1-0-2; Nate Phillips 3-3-9

Shawnee: Will McBride 2-0-6; Anthony Best 0-3-3; Brady Wheeler 4-1-9; Austin Miller 8-2-19; Ja’Mari Johnson 6-1-14