Cougar girls get easy win over Elida

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

ELIDA — The Van Wert Lady Cougars had little trouble with Elida, beating the Lady Bulldogs 58-40 in a Western Buckeye League girls’ basketball contest on Thursday night.

With the victory, Van Wert is now 12-2 on the year and 4-1 in the WBL, while the ‘Dogs fall to 6-7 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

Erin Morrow was the big offensive gun for the Cougars with 22 points on the night, while Alexis Dowdy added 11 points for Van Wert. Elida’s Abby Waddle and Torie McAdams each scored 10 points for the Lady Bulldogs.

The Cougars started slow, leading by just three points, 12-9, at the end of the first quarter. Van Wert outscored the ‘Dogs 19-13 in the second period to lead by nine, 31-22, at the half. That lead went to 15 points, 44-29, at the end of the third quarter as the Cougars went on a 13-7 run in the period, and Morrow made 6 of 6 free throws down the stretch as Van Wert outscored the Bulldogs 14-11 in the final period of play.

The Cougars were 20 of 46 from field goal range (43.5 percent), while Elida hit 14 of 41 shots from the field (34.1 percent). Van Wert was deadly from the free throw line, making 14 of 17 free throws (82.4 percent), while the Bulldogs made 6 of 10 (60 percent).

Elida had the advantage in rebounding, bringing down 26 caroms to 18 for the Cougars, but Van Wert had fewer turnovers, 12-23, than the Lady ‘Dogs.

The junior varsity game was more exciting, but Van Wert’s JVs lost a 46-44 heartbreaker in overtime to the Bulldogs. Emma Kohn scored 18 points for the Lady Cougar JVs.

Van Wert has a busy schedule coming up, with a game at Bryan on Saturday, and an away game with cross-county rival Crestview on Monday.