Cougars lose 5th in row to St. Henry

Van Wert boys’ basketball news

ST. HENRY — The Van Wert boys’ basketball team lost its second game of the weekend and the fifth in a row overall as St. Henry downed the Cougars 57-43 on Saturday. With the loss, Van Wert is now 9-10 overall, while the Redskins are now 17-3 overall.

St. Henry got out to a six-point lead, 15-9, in the first quarter and stretched its lead to 11, 27-16, at the half. Van Wert cut the lead back to five points with an 18-12 third-quarter run, but the Redskins finished strong with an 18-9 final period to earn the win.

AJ Smith led the Cougars and was the game’s top scorer with 16 points, while Caleb Markward added 10 points for Van Wert. St. Henry was led by Ryan Mikesell’s 15 points, while Kyle Stahl scored 14 for the Redskins.

Van Wert was 10 of 21 from two-point range (47.6 percent), but hit only 4 of 17 three-point attempts (23.5 percent). The Cougars made 11 of 14 free throws (78.6 percent). St. Henry hit 14 of 27 two-point attempts (51.9 percent) and was 4 of 12 from three-point range (33.3 percent). The Redskins canned 17 of 19 from the charity stripe (89.5 percent).

The taller St. Henry team dominated on the boards, bringing down 31 rebounds to 15 for the Cougars. Van Wert had fewer turnovers, 12-14.

The Cougar junior varsity team salvaged a little glory for Van Wert, winning its 18th game of the season by beating St. Henry’s JVs 61-51 on Saturday. Nathan Stoller led all scorers with 19 points, while Nick Keber had 11 points and Devin Myers added 10 for Van Wert. The Redskins were led by AJ Niekamp’s 16 points, while Paul Stammen scored 11 for St. Henry.

The Cougars will play at St. Marys on Friday and then host Ottawa-Glandorf the Friday after that, and then travel to Delphos Jefferson a week from Saturday.