D-II district preview: Van Wert vs. Shawnee

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Could superstitions be a part of Van Wert’s run to Saturday’s Division II district championship game at Ohio Northern University?

“Coaches are wearing everything the same,” Van Wert head coach Mark Bagley explained. “In our sectional semifinal, sectional final and district semifinal games we wore gray pants and red shirts, and we’ll wear them for the district final.”

“As far as the players – we’ve found pennies throughout the year and we found a pretty cool little ancient bag that we’re depositing our pennies in after each game,” the coach added. “Amazingly, we have a certain amount of pennies which I won’t disclose right now, but so far we’ve deposited three pennies and we have more to deposit.

Superstitions or not, the Cougars have knocked off two higher seeded teams to advance to Saturday’s 7 p.m. Division II district championship game at the King Horn Sports Center.

One game after rallying from 18 down to defeat state ranked and No. 2 seed Wauseon, Van Wert beat No. 3 seed Defiance 27-25 in overtime on Wednesday Now, the Cougars will face top seeded Shawnee (22-2) with a trip to the regionals on the line.

Behind 26 points by George Mangas, the Indians defeated Elida 55-40. Tyson Elwer had nine points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in the win.

Bagley knows the Cougars must be ready for a multifaceted attack.

“For a sophomore, the Mangas kid plays like a sophomore in college,” Bagley said. “He’s got an unbelievable feel for the game, he’s a great finisher, he’s longer than 6-3 with his arms and his IQ is off the charts.”

“Elwer has really come on as a sophomore post and has patrolled the inside, and their proven guys – (Johnny) Caprella, (Sheridan) O’Neal have played varsity for three years doing their thing, then (Justin) Behnke is an unbelievable teammate as far as pressuring the ball.”

“Off the bench they bring in instant offense in (John) Barker, who can fire from anywhere and he really hurt us in the first game by hitting some big shots. (Jarin) Bertke can really shoot it and they really are a complete team. They are 22-2 for a reason, and their two losses are to Ottawa-Glandorf and St. Henry, so we’ll have our hands full.”

“The unselfishness and effort our kids play with is contagious,” Shawnee head coach Mark Triplett said of his team. “We just need to keep coming together and find ways to get one percent better each day and we will have a chance to be successful night in and night out.”

When Van Wert and Shawnee met on January 18, the Indians outscored the Cougars 22-10 in the fourth quarter and won 70-49.

“I remember we shot it pretty well and the final was not indicative of the type of game it was,” Triplett said. “We were up six late in the third and ran away a bit in the fourth. Van Wert is tough and physical and they’ll be a huge challenge for us on Saturday night.”

“They shot it really poorly Wednesday night and still found a way to win,” Triplett added. “They are strong, athletic, hard-nosed kids and are very well coached. They are 11-2 since our game against them and are on quite a roll.”

Both coaches were asked what needs to be done to win the district championship.

“Defensively, we have to be better than our man one-on-one, we have to force them to take jump shots and we have to try to rebound,” Bagley said. “I think we have to run at Shawnee, not with them. I’m not sure we have the depth to run with them.”

“When there are opportunities, we have to run and get easy baskets. That’s where Nate Place is so good, that’s where Owen Treece so good to get his feet set, Drew (Bagley) trailing, Lawson (Blackmore) and Blake (Henry) inside rebounding and hitting shots, then LeTrey (Williams) obviously can push the ball for us as well.”

“Those six have to play their roles, and the third thing is the intangibles – our guys believe and that’s all that matters to me right now. We have shown throughout this season that we have grit and toughness.”

“ We must control the pace – give them one shot and get the ball up the floor, and pass up good shots for great shots,” Triplett said. “ We have to contest shots and pressure ball handlers – we must make life difficult for them on their offensive end.

Saturday’s Van Wert-Shawnee game will air live on WERT 1220AM/104.3FM.

The winner will face either Cleveland Central Catholic or Parma Heights Holy Name/Bay on Wednesday at Bowling Green State University.