VW downs ‘Dogs in battle of WBL leaders

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

Van Wert boys’ head basketball Coach Dave Froelich was honored Friday for winning his 400th game a week before. But it was his 402nd win that may have been the best — and most exciting — of all. It took two overtimes, but the Cougars finally prevailed 66-61 over the Elida Bulldogs in a clash of Western Buckeye League leaders at Van Wert.

The game started out quickly, with the Cougars taking the early lead, going up 16-13 in the first quarter. Elida roared back, though, outscoring Van Wert 19-12 in the second quarter to lead by four at the half, 32-28.

The Cougars continued to chip away at the Elida lead, taking a basket off the Bulldogs’ advantage in both the third and fourth periods to tie the game at 46-all at the end of regulation.

Each team scored just four points in the first overtime to knot the score back up at 50, but the second and final OT was a wild one.

Both teams traded baskets down the stretch, but the Cougars, who were torrid at the free throw line, had a five-point lead when Elida pulled to within three, 64-61, with seconds left. In the end, it was an unfortunate mistake that spelled the difference in who won and who lost. After scoring the basket, the Bulldog players called a timeout so they could put intense defensive pressure on Van Wert on the in-bounds pass with 3.1 seconds remaining. They forgot, though, that they were out of timeouts, resulting in a technical foul on the Elida bench. Cougar Jake Myers canned two free throws for a 66-61 lead and Van Wert also retained possession of the ball, keeping the ball out of the Bulldogs’ hands as the remaining seconds ticked off the clock.

Elida had the two top scorers in the game, with Reggie McAdams hitting two treys, six two-pointers and 6 of 9 free throw attempts for 24 points. Cory Royster was right behind on seven two-point shots and 8 of 12 at the line for 22 points. The Cougars were balanced, with four players in double figures: Myers at 21 points, Reggie Phillips with 13, and Joey Hurless and AJ Smith with 11 points apiece.

The two teams’ athleticism and physical presence resulted in a number of fouls and caused both Hurless and Joe Moonshower to foul out in the fourth period. In addition, while no one fouled out for Elida, three players had four fouls called on them, and another three people were whistled for three fouls.

The Bulldogs outrebounded Van Wert, 33-24, and also had two fewer turnovers, 7-9, to the Cougars.

Van Wert was the better shooting team, though, especially at the free throw line and in front of the three-point arc. Neither team shot all that well from three-point range, with Van Wert hitting just 2 of 10 (20 percent) and the Bulldogs making 4 of 15 three-point attempts (26.7 percent). The Cougars shot well from two-point range, knocking down 19 of 38 (50 percent), while Elida made 16 of 36 (44.4 percent) two-point attempts.

Van Wert was dead-on from the free-throw line, making 22 of 26 foul shots (84.6 percent), while the Bulldogs were 17 of 25 (68 percent).

With the win, the Cougars are now 8-1 overall and 3-0 in the WBL, while Elida falls to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in league play.

The Van Wert junior varsity team stayed perfect with a 53-38 win over the Bulldog JVs. Connor Holliday was the big offensive gun for the Cougars, scoring 20 of Van Wert’s points, while Louis Gray had 14 points for Elida.