{"id":161823,"date":"2023-01-06T23:02:30","date_gmt":"2023-01-07T04:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=161823"},"modified":"2023-01-06T23:02:47","modified_gmt":"2023-01-07T04:02:47","slug":"wapak-uses-ot-to-edge-van-wert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2023\/01\/06\/wapak-uses-ot-to-edge-van-wert\/","title":{"rendered":"Wapak uses OT to upset Van Wert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the first home game in nearly a month for Van Wert, but things didn\u2019t go as hoped for the Cougars, who fell in overtime to Wapakoneta 46-44 on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The loss dropped Van Wert to 6-2 (1-2 WBL) while Wapakoneta improved to 4-7 (1-2 WBL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Luke Wessell drives to the hoop for two points against Wapakoneta. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The game was tied 42-42 going into overtime, then Jackson Courter scored all four of Wapakoneta\u2019s points in the extra session, including two free throws with 5.1 seconds left on the clock. The 6-5 senior had a chance to perhaps win the game in regulation, but missed a pair of foul shots with 1.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. He finished with a team high 17 points, while Zac Niekamp added 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert was able to get a shot off before the buzzer in overtime but it was off the mark. Afterward, head coach Ben Laudick lamented missed opportunities in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCredit goes to Wapak, they played with great effort and we were one possession short,\u201d Laudick said. \u201cReplaying the game in my mind we had a lot of great looks and they just didn\u2019t go in tonight and unfortunately that\u2019s part of basketball. I\u2019m proud of our guys\u2019 effort but that doesn\u2019t help with a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars finished the game 19-of-45 (42 percent) from the floor, including just 3-of-14 from three point range. Van Wert was 3-of-6 from the free throw line and was out-rebounded 24-15, but had just five turnovers. By comparison, Wapakoneta was 19-of-38 shooting, and 4-of-8 from the foul line with nine turnovers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The game was close throughout, with 10 ties. The Redskins led 14-13 after one quarter, with Courter scoring seven points and Aidan Pratt accounting for eight for Van Wert. Behind five more points from Pratt and a pair of baskets by Luke Wessell, the Cougars carried a 26-23 lead into halftime. Pratt, who finished with 21 points, added six more in the third quarter and Van Wert led 37-34 entering the final period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bucket and free throw by Wessell early in the fourth quarter gave the Cougars their biggest lead, 40-34, but Van Wert scored just once more in regulation. Wessell finished the game with 11 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert will play at Marion Local tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur guys have been resilient in a lot of different ways and we have a challenge in front of us \u2013 we can let this carry over into tomorrow night\u2019s game or we can rest on it tonight then turn around and prepare in the morning and get on the bus and go play a very good and very tall opponent,\u201d Laudick said. \u201cOur guys are up for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Box score<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wapakoneta 14 9 11 8 4 \u2013 46
Van Wert 13 13 11 5 2 \u2013 44<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wapakoneta: Zac Niekamp 6-2-16; Nate Metzger 4-0-8; Jackson Courter 7-2-17; Cash Schadl 1-0-3; Deacon Retterer 1-0-2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert: Nate Phillips 1-0-2; AJ Proffitt 2-0-5; Luke Wessell 4-2-11; Carson Smith 1-0-2; Garett Gunter 1-1-3; Aidan Pratt 10-0-21<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JV: Van Wert 46-35<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor It was the first home game in nearly a month for Van Wert, but things didn\u2019t go as hoped for the Cougars, who fell in overtime to Wapakoneta 46-44 on Friday. The loss dropped Van Wert to 6-2 (1-2 WBL) while Wapakoneta improved to 4-7 (1-2 WBL). The game was tied 42-42 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 08:43:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161823"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161834,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161823\/revisions\/161834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}