Lady Cougars ‘D’ shuts down Paulding

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Van Wert’s defense forced 33 turnovers and held Paulding to just eight second half points on the way to a 46-29 girls’ non-conference basketball win on Tuesday night.

The game was tied at 21 at halftime, but Sierra Shaffer’s layup at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter gave the Lady Cougars the lead for good. After that, Abby Jackson hit a foul shot, then three consecutive steals and layups – two by Caylee Phillips and one by Cassidy Meyers put Van Wert up 30-21. Paulding’s only point of third quarter came on an Audrey Manz foul shot with 2:00 left.

“Sierra Shaffer, Caylee Phillips, Cassidy (Meyers), Jerica Huebner and Abby Jackson were in there and did a really nice job for us in that third quarter,” Van Wert head coach Rob Adams said. “They gave us a spark and that’s what we needed. That was the ball game, the second half.”

The Lady Cougars went on to outscore the visitors 16-7 in the fourth quarter, with Phillips and Jamison Clouse accounting for half of the 16 points.

“We’re always worried about Paulding coming in and testing us a little bit,” Adams said. “We knew the things we had to do, the small things to try and get through this one and we did that in the second half.”

The two teams appeared to be evenly matched in the first half. Van Wert’s Alexis Metz and Reagan Priest each hit treys in the opening quarter, while Paulding’s Brianna Townley scored five of her 11 points in the period.

Trailing 14-11 to begin the second quarter, Paulding took a brief 15-14 lead on a bucket by Cassidy Posey and a layup by Kaylen Hale. The Lady Cougars regained the lead on baskets by Alexis Rupert and Meyers, but Paulding fought and lead 21-20 on a bucket by Jalynn Parrett and two foul shots by Townley. Clouse used a free throw to tie the game at 21 with 55 seconds left in the period.

Phillips and Meyers led Van Wert with eight points apiece, while Clouse and Priest each chipped in with seven.
In addition to Townley’s 11 points, Kaylen Hale scored eight for Paulding.

Van Wert (4-10) will travel to Shawnee on Thursday, while Paulding (2-12) will host Delphos Jefferson.

Scoring summary:

Van Wert 14 7 9 16 – 46
Paulding   11 10 1 7 – 29

Van Wert: Sierra Shaffer 2-0-4; Alexis Metz 1-0-3; Jamison Clouse 3-1-7; Abby Jackson 2-1-5; Alexis Rupert 1-0-2; Cassidy Meyers 4-0-8; Caylee Phillips 4-0-8; Jerica Huebner 1-0-2; Reagan Priest 3-0-7

Paulding: Audrey Manz 0-1-1; Kaylen Hale 3-2-8; Briana Townley 4-3-11; Cassidy Posey 2-1-5; Jalynn Parrett 2-0-4

JV: Paulding won 37-30