Van Wert boys lose to Shawnee Indians

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Van Wert Cougar boys couldn’t get on track, offensively, in a 49-37 Western Buckeye League loss to Lima Shawnee on Friday in the Cougars’ Den.

Turnovers were the biggest problem for the Cougars, who lost the ball 20 times, to just eight for Shawnee. Van Wert had two players in double figures, led by Josh Braun’s 14 points. Colin Smith added 13 points for the Cougars. The problem is that none of the other five players scoring for Van Wert had more than 2 points on the night.

Shawnee’s Jaden O’Neal led all scorers with 18 points, while Riley Rosado added 9 points for the Indians.

Van Wert led by a point, 4-3, after a cold shooting first quarter. Things heated up in the second stanza, though, as Shawnee outpointed the Cougars 20-14 to take a five-point lead, 23-18, at the half. The Indians kept the initiative in the second half, outscoring Van Wert 26-19 for the WBL win. The Cougars are now 1-8 overall and 0-3 in league play, while Shawnee is 8-3 (2-1 WBL).

Van Wert was 14 of 42 (33.3 percent) from the field, including 3 of 14 shooting (21.4 percent) from three-point range. The Cougars were 6 of 9 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line.

Shawnee was 19 of 58 from the field (32.8 percent), including 4 of 12 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc. The Indians made 7 of 11 free throw attempts (63.6 percent).

Van Wert was outrebounded 28-35 by Shawnee.

The Cougar junior varsity team also lost, 45-40. Nate Place led the Van Wert JVs with 10 points, while the Indians had two players in double figures, led by Brady Sweeny’s 17 points. Nate Reynolds added 12 points for the Shawnee JVs.

The Cougars will play again tonight against Marion Local in a non-conference game at home.