Friday Flashback: VW wins nail-biter

Editor’s note: The Friday Flashback has returned for the summer season and will continue until the start of the 2026 fall sports season. This week’s Friday Flashback takes us back to February of 2014, when the Van Wert boys basketball team won a nail-biter over visiting Coldwater. Below is the story as it appeared on the VW independent Sports page.

Dave Mosier/independent editor

The Van Wert Cougars won another two-point contest on Monday, defeating the Coldwater Cavaliers 48-46 in a non-conference boys’ basketball battle in the Cougar’s Den.

The Cougars were ice cold offensively in the first quarter and it looked as if Van Wert would be on the losing end of another blowout when they got behind by 10, 12-2, at the end of the first quarter. But the Cougars battled back, outscoring Coldwater 15-12 in the second quarter to trail by eight, 24-17, at the half.

The third quarter was huge for Van Wert, as the Cougars went on a 15-8 run to tie the Cavaliers at 39-all heading into the final quarter of play.

The fourth-quarter seesawed a bit, but Van Wert did just enough offensively to earn a hard-fought victory.

With the win, the Cougars hit .500 for the year at 8-8 overall. Coldwater is now 6-8 on the season.

Drew Myers was the only Van Wert player in double figures, with 11 points, although Nathan Stoller and Connor Holliday each added 9 points and seven players overall scored for the Cougars. Coldwater had three players in double figures, led by Brady Hoying’s 14 points. Brandon Wolters scored 12 points for the Cavs, while Garrett Thobe added 11 points.

Van Wert was a bit shaky from two-point range, hitting just 6 of 16 attempts (37.5 percent), but the Cougars were better from behind the arc, canning 8 of 18 three-pointers (44.4 percent). The Cavaliers were 15 of 32 from two-point range (46.9 percent), but hit just 4 of 16 three-point attempts (25 percent).

Van Wert won the game on its free-throw shooting abilities, hitting 12 of 14 at the line (85.7 percent), while the Cavaliers made just 4 of 11 free throw attempts (36.4 percent).

Coldwater used its height to advantage on the boards, bringing down 31 rebounds to 18 for the Cougars, while both teams had 12 turnovers in the game.

The Van Wert junior varsity had an easy time of it, beating the Cavalier JVs 52-21. Ryan McCracken led the Cougars with 14 points, while Josh Braun scored 13 points and Gavin Gardner added 9 for Van Wert. Dylan Thobe scored 8 to lead Coldwater.

The Cougars have another busy week coming up, hosting a tough Western Buckeye League rival Defiance on Friday and Midwest Athletic Conference opponent St. Henry on Saturday. The Cougars then travel to Delphos to play St. John’s next Tuesday.