VW Cougars get back on the winning track

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Two streaks came to an end at Van Wert High School on Friday night.

Behind a combined 45 points by Jacoby Kelly and Nate Place, the Cougars snapped a four–game losing streak while ending Shawnee’s nine game winning streak with a 58-55 Western Buckeye League victory.

With the game tied at 41 entering the final stanza, Nate Place scored Van Wert’s first 10 points of the quarter. During the run, the 6-2 junior hit three baskets and four free throws, and lifted the Cougars (4-7, 1-3 WBL) to a 51-50 lead with 3:38 left. He went on to score 13 in the quarter and 22 in the game.

“I think he broke a little barrier tonight,” Van Wert head coach Mark Bagley said of Place. “He played more minutes tonight than he has all year. We rode him and that’s going to help us down the road.”

“Everybody made plays and I’m really proud of our team, not about winning but about playing the right way and competing and battling,” Bagley added.

Jacoby Kelly, who 20 of his 23 points in the first three quarters, converted a foul shot with 2:39 remaining in the quarter, but a steal and layup by Shawnee’s Johnny Caprella with 1:30 left tied the game at 52. Place followed up with a basket with 1:12 remaining, but went down with leg cramps. He came back to hit a free throw, then Kelly hit two more foul shots to put the Cougars up 57-52.

However, Shawnee’s Sheridan O’Neal drilled a trey from the right corner with 6.1 seconds left, but Owen Treece was fouled with 5.3 seconds remaining and hit the second shot of a double bonus.

Shawnee’s Logan Maxwell was fouled shortly after that and missed the front end of a one-and-one to essentially end the game.

The Indians (10-3, 2-1 WBL) got off to a fast start when O’Neal, Justin Behnke and Riley Rosado each hit triples to give Shawnee a 9-2 advantage. The Cougars went on an 11-4 run with Kelly scoring seven of those points, including a buzzer-beating layup to tie the game at 13 at the end of the first quarter.

Drew Bagley’s offensive rebound and bucket gave Van Wert a quick 15-13 lead in the second quarter, but Shawnee responded with a trey by Behnke and two foul shots by Caprella, but the Cougars went on an 8-4 run to grab a 23-22 halftime lead. A trey by Bagley knotted things up at 20, then Kelly hit a free throw and another basket later in the period. Bagley finished the game with 10 points.

Early in the third quarter triples by Place and Kelly gave the Cougars leads of 26-24 and 29-29, but Shawnee fought back and eventually took a 39-34 lead. Van Wert responded with two buckets by Kelly and a basket by Bagley end the period with a 41-41 tie.

Van Wert will play at Bryan tonight, then will travel to Kalida on Tuesday.

“We’re in a stretch now where we play five games in nine days and our guys are very excited” Bagley said. “We’re going to celebrate tonight, but were going back to work Saturday morning to prepare for Bryan.”

Scoring summary:

Van Wert  13 10 18 17 – 58
Shawnee   13  9 19 14 – 55

Van Wert: Nate Place 8-5-22; Jacoby Kelly 7-6-23; Owen Treece 1-1-3; Drew Bagley 3-1-10

Shawnee: Riley Rosado 2-0-5; Johnny Caprella 3-3-9; Jake Hutchins 1-0-2; Justin Behnke 4-0-11; Tyler Moore 1-0-2; Sheridan O’Neal 5-0-13; Tyson Elwer 2-0-4; Logan Maxwell 3-1-9

JV: Van Wert 46-44