{"id":188617,"date":"2025-01-18T00:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T05:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=188617"},"modified":"2025-01-18T00:06:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T05:06:11","slug":"fourth-quarter-run-keys-cougar-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/01\/18\/fourth-quarter-run-keys-cougar-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Fourth quarter run keys Cougar win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

After a month of road games, Van Wert celebrated a return the Cougar\u2019s Den with a 57-47 Western Buckeye League win over Wapakoneta on Friday. The victory boosted Van Wert\u2019s record to 5-9 (2-3 WBL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to re-acquaint myself with how to get into this gym on game night,\u201d Van Wert head coach Jeremy Best quipped. \u201cWe had five straight road games and it was definitely nice to get back here in the Cougar\u2019s Den.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Griff McCracken (3) hoists up a three point attempt against Wapakoneta. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Friday\u2019s game was close for three quarters and the two teams began the fourth quarter deadlocked at 39-39. However, Van Wert opened the final period with an 11-1 scoring run, then used free throws down the stretch to cement the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keaten Welch keyed the fourth quarter run with a layup and a trey from the right wing, while freshman Zach Crummey sandwiched in a pair of important baskets. Meanwhile, the Cougar defense kept the Redskins bottled up for much of the quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were able to get a few stops,\u201d Best said. \u201cThey were spacing the floor and trying to take advantage of some driving lanes and we had a little trouble with that but I thought we got a couple of key stops and then we converted offensively. We had some really good possessions tonight when it counted and we did a pretty good job of making free throws down the stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crummey, who missed the final 90 seconds of the first quarter and the entire second quarter after picking up his second foul, finished the game with 16 points and Welch scored six of his seven points in the fourth quarter. Best said it was one of the more consistent games offensively for the Cougars this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought we had pretty good balance,\u201d he stated. \u201cIt\u2019s good to see Griff (McCracken) and Cohen (Bragg) knock down shots because that only opens up lanes for Keaten and \u2018X\u2019 (Xavier Kelly) as well as putting the ball in the post with Zach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCracken drilled four treys and went on to finish with 15 points and Bragg added eight points, including a pair of triples. As a team, Van Wert was 8-of-13 from three point range and 19-of-39 overall from the floor. The Cougars also converted 11-of-16 foul shots and out-rebounded the taller Redskins 22-18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Wapakoneta (5-8, 1-4 WBL) barged out to a 10-5 first quarter lead, with all 10 points coming from guard Blake Rogers. The Cougars countered with seven points by Crummey and a triple each by McCracken and Bragg and trailed 16-14 at the end of the period. McCracken added two more treys in the second quarter, Bragg had one and Kelly chipped in with a pair of buckets and the Cougars led 29-26 at the break. In the third quarter, Wapakoneta\u2019s Ryan Richardson hit two buckets, including a three pointer and Caleb Moyer added two baskets to help tie the game entering the final period. Moyer led all scorers with 17 points, while Rogers finished with 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best noted the energy from the crowd was a key factor in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m pleased and proud of our crowd,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we had a great crowd tonight and they were connected with our kids and that\u2019s part of the culture we\u2019re trying to build. We talk to our kids about it but our people are part of that as well. Our kids felt it and it helped us in the fourth quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars will return to action today at home against Bryan. The junior varsity game will tip off at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Cougars   14  15  10  18 \u2013 57<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redskins  16  10  13    8 \u2013 47<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert:<\/strong> Xavier Kelly 2-3-7; Griff McCracken 4-3-15; Keaten Welch 2-2-7; Caden Collins 1-0-2; Micah Cowan 1-0-2; Zach Crummey 6-3-16; Cohen Bragg 3-0-8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wapakoneta:<\/strong> Caleb Moyer 6-5-17; Blake Rogers 6-0-14; Elliot Block 1-0-2; Ryan Richardson 4-0-11; Caleb Adams 1-1-3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JV: Wapakoneta 60-41<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Keaten Welch (5) drives to the hoop for two points. Bob Barnes photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports After a month of road games, Van Wert celebrated a return the Cougar\u2019s Den with a 57-47 Western Buckeye League win over Wapakoneta on Friday. The victory boosted Van Wert\u2019s record to 5-9 (2-3 WBL). \u201cI had to re-acquaint myself with how to get into this gym on game night,\u201d Van Wert […]<\/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-188617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 22:48:40","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\/188617","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=188617"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188624,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188617\/revisions\/188624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}