Red-hot Redskins down faltering Cougars

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Van Wert boys’ basketball team started off slow, and then couldn’t catch a red-hot shooting St. Henry team, losing to the Redskins 52-37 in a non-conference game played at home on Saturday.

The Redskins got out to a 15-2 first-quarter lead and were really never challenged after that. It was 32-15 at the half, while Van Wert outscored St. Henry 16-12 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 13 points, 44-31, by the end of the quarter.

The Redskins then went on an 8-6 run in the fourth period to preserve the victory.

St. Henry’s Ryan Mikesell was the game’s top scorer, with 22 points, including a 5-for-5 performance at the free throw line, while Evan Prenger added 12 points for the Redskins. Kyle Keber was Van Wert’s top scorer with 17 points, and was the only Cougar to get close to double figures.

Both teams shot very well from three-point range, with Van Wert 8 of 14 (57.1 percent), and the Redskins making 5 of 9 beyond the arc (55.6 percent). The difference was that St. Henry was also deadly from two-point range, hitting 15 of 24 (62.5 percent) and at the free-throw line, making 7 of 9 (77.8 percent).

The Cougar struggled from two-point range, making just 6 of 22 two-point attempts (27.3 percent), and only had two free-throw attempts, making one of those.

The Redskins also had a big advantage in rebounds, bringing down 22 boards to just 9 for Van Wert, although the Cougars had fewer turnovers (9-11) than St. Henry.

With the win, the Redskins go to 12-7 overall, while Van Wert is now 8-10 on the year.

The Cougar junior varsity team eked out a 44-38 victory over St. Henry’s JVs to go to 12-6 on the year.  Colin Smith scored 18 points for Van Wert, while Ryan McCracken added 10 points for the Cougars. Evan Leffeld and Justin Ahlers both scored 10 points for St. Henry.