Wapak tops Van Wert in WBL opener

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Van Wert fell behind early and never could fully recover in a 58-50 loss to Wapakoneta in the Western Buckeye League opener for both teams on Friday.

The Cougars dropped to 1-2 (0-1 WBL) while Wapakoneta improved to 3-0 (1-0 WBL).

“We didn’t play the right way the whole night and coaching as long as I have if you don’t play the game right way, mentally and physically, the basketball gods always win,” Van Wert head coach Mark Bagley said. “The better team won tonight and they deserved it.”

“We didn’t play well all night,” Bagley added. “We tried to compete, we tried to scrap, we tried to claw back into it, but the mental aspect of it was 4-1 and we were not very good mentally tonight. That’s all of us and we have to learn from this.”

The Redskins quickly took a 5-0 lead on a three pointer by Adam Scott and a basket by Aaron Good. Lawson Blackmore put the Cougars on the board with a bucket at the 5:25 mark, but Ryan Carrico and scored twice and Scott once to give Wapakoneta an 11-2 lead with 4:10 left in the period.

“Scott and Good are great players,” Bagley said. “They’re two of the better players in the league and Scott really shot the ball well from the outside.”

After baskets by Drew Bagley and Blackmore, Nate Place came away with a steal and bucket to make it a 13-8 game, but the Cougars trailed 17-12 at the end of the quarter.

The Redskins opened the second stanza with an 8-0 run to push the lead to 26-12. Bagley hit a pair of foul shots and a trey to pull within eight, but a triple by Reed Merricle gave Wapakoneta a 29-18 lead. The two teams traded baskets, then LeTrey Williams beat the halftime buzzer with a layup to make it 32-25.

After a foul shot by Noah Ambos to open the third quarter, a turnover by the Cougars led to a dunk by Scott and a 35-25 Wapakoneta lead. Van Wert was able to cut it to five on a layup by Blackmore, a foul shot and a bucket by Bagley, but by the end of the quarter, the Redskins led 46-36.

The Cougars made things in the final period. Owen Treece opened the quarter with a triple and from there Van Wert used baskets by Bagley, Place and Blake Henry to pull within three, 48-45 with 3:45 left.

However, Wapakoneta scored the next eight points to regain control of the game.

“We never quit and we kept on battling,” Bagley said. “It seemed like we were down 10 the whole night, then next thing I look up in the fourth quarter and it’s three.”

Bagley led Van Wert with 15 points, while Henry had 12. Scott led all scorers with 18, while Good and Ryan Carrico each scored 12.

The Cougars will return to action next Friday against Delphos St. John’s at the S.F. Goedde building, then will play Saturday at Wayne Trace.

“Next week we’ll go one day at a time, Bagley said. “Over the holidays we’ll play four games and they’re all against teams that it’s the game of the year for them. It started this way in football at 1-2 and I said we’re in the same spot right now. We have to find a way to right the ship and do it together.”

Scoring summary

Van Wert      12 13 11 14 – 50
Wapakoneta 17 15 14 12 – 58

Van Wert: Owen Treece 2-0-5; Nate Place 2-0-4; Tanner Barnhart 0-2-2; LeTrey Williams 1-2-4; Blake Henry 4-2-12; Lawson Blackmore 4-0-8; Drew Bagley 5-4-15

Wapakoneta: Aaron Good 4-2-12; Reed Merricle 3-0-8; Nate Ambos 1-0-2; Noah Ambos 1-1-3; Brady Erb 1-0-3; Adam Scott 7-2-18; Ryan Carrico 6-0-12
JV: Wapakoneta won 43-37