Cougar boys outclassed by O-G Titans

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

OTTAWA – The Van Wert Cougars had a bad shooting night Friday as Ottawa-Glandorf defeated the Cougars 83-52 in a Western Buckeye League boys’ basketball game on Friday.

The Cougars started off in the hole as O-G took a seven-point lead, 15-8, in the first quarter. The Titans led by 11, 32-21, at the half and were up by 12 points, 52-40, at the end of the third quarter.

Ottawa-Glandorf then saved its best for last, as the Titans outscored Van Wert 21-12 in the final stanza for the 31-point victory.

Nick Weihrach, who scored 27 points, including seven three-pointers, was the main offensive weapon for O-G, while Connor Niece has 13 points for the Titans, and three players, Jordan Verhoff, Kordel Stover, and Jake Dible all had 9 points.

Ryan McCracken scored 15 points for the Cougars, while Josh Braun added 10 points and two players, Jacoby Kelly and Gavin Cross had 8 points.

Van Wert shot just 31 percent from the field (18 of 58), including 5 of 17 from three-point range (29.4 percent). The Titans were 28 of 48 from the field (58.3 percent), while making 9 of 17 three-point attempts (52.9 percent).

The Cougars were also less than stellar from the free-throw line, hitting just 11 of 22 (50 percent), while Ottawa-Glandorf wasn’t all that great either, making 18 of 30 free-throw attempts (60 percent).

Van Wert led in rebounding, 33-30, but also had five more turnovers (15-10) than the Titans.

The Cougars are now 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the WBL, while O-G is 5-1 overall and 2-0 in league play.

The Van Wert junior varsity team lost by a basket, 45-43, to the Titans. Nate Place led the Cougar JVs with 11 points, while Blake Henry added 9 points for Van Wert. O-G had two players in double figures: Richey Knowlton had 14 points, while Brice Schroeder scored 10 points for the Titan JVs.