Cougars shut down Kenton 58-20

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

Simply put, Kenton was no match for Van Wert on Tuesday night.

Just four days after the two teams ended the regular season, they met again in the Division IV sectional semifinals at Van Wert High School and the fifth seeded Cougars rolled to a 58-20 victory. No. 10 seed Kenton (1-21) ended the season with 21 straight losses, while Van Wert improved to 10-12 and advanced to Friday’s sectional championship game against No. 1 seed Elida.

The Cougars put the game out of reach early. Van Wert led 23-0 after the first quarter, with Keaten Welch accounting for seven points, including a 5-for-5 showing from the foul line. Cohen Bragg added six points and Griff McCracken pumped in a pair of baskets, and a smothering defense kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard. The Cougars had a 27-0 lead before Kenton finally scored nearly three mintues into the second quarter. The Wildcats managed to string together seven unanswered points but by halftime, Van Wert led 36-10.

“I was very pleased with our start to the game,” Van Wert head coach Jeremy Best said. “I thought we had good focus and good purpose – we talked about that because when come back and play a team just four days later, especially with young guys, you worry about their ability to re-focus themselves but I really liked our first 10-12 minutes of the game. We came out and did a lot of really good things. We got some defensive stops and converted those into points.”

Van Wert opened the third quarter with an 8-2 scoring run, including a left corner three splashed in by McCracken and two foul shots by the 5-8 junior guard. Micah Cowan came off the bench and added a pair of buckets and the team’s lone senior, Nate Gearhart, drilled a trey that put the game into continuous clock mode for the remainder of the contest.

The fourth quarter was played with Van Wert’s reserves and when the game ended, 11 different Cougars had scored. Bragg led the way with 13 points, McCracken finished with 10 and Welch scored nine points, all in the first half. Van Wert finished the game 19-of-41 from the floor and 16-of-19 from the foul line with 29 rebounds and 10 turnovers.

“All of our guys have bought in all year so when you get a chance in a tournament game situation at home to get guys in and some guys get some points on the board and get some rebounds, that’s rewarding and that’s what we want in our culture – to make them hungry to come back for more as we move along this year and down the road,” Best said.

The numbers were quite different for the Wildcats, who shot just 6-of-41 (15 percent) from the floor and 4-of-7 from the free throw line with 15 rebounds and 15 turnovers. Steven Piper led Kenton with eight points, including five in the fourth quarter.

Van Wert’s game at Elida will tip off at 7 p.m. Friday. The two teams met at the Elida Fieldhouse January 3, and the Bulldogs posted a 49-44 victory.

“Elida obviously brings a really athletic piece to the table,” Best stated. “They have the strongest kid in the league inside (Parker Crim) and they have two of the quicker guards out front (Zori Island, Amari Wash). They have really quick hands and they rebound so well on the offensive end, especially Parker. That was something we didn’t do well in the first game – we gave up somewhere around 18 offensive rebounds, but we were still in the game.”

“Obviously that’s a point of emphasis and we’ve talked about that since our film session after that game,” he continued. “We didn’t defend too badly in the half-court, we just didn’t finish some possessions.

Friday’s Van Wert at Elida game will air live on WERT 1220AM/104.3FM.

Box score

Cougars  23  13  15   7 – 58

Wildcats    0  10    4   6 – 20

Van Wert: Xavier Kelly 1-0-2; Griff McCracken 3-2-10; Evan Keunecke 1-0-2; Keaten Welch 2-5-9; Nate Gearhart 1-0-3; Caden Collins 1-0-2; Andrew Terhark 0-2-2; Micah Cowan 2-1-7; Zach Crummey 2-3-7; Cohen Bragg 5-2-13; Trey Dotson 0-1-1

Kenton: Tayvion Glispie 1-0-2; Kyle Barrett 1-0-2; Lukas Anderson 1-0-3; Dawson Miller 1-2-4; Steven Piper 3-1-8; Braelyn Wyomic 0-1-1