Mangas, Shawnee too much for Van Wert

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Van Wert put up a good fight against the fifth ranked team in Division II, but Shawnee used 34 points from George Mangas and two key treys in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 70-56 win on Friday night.

After trailing by 14 late in the third quarter, the Cougars closed the gap late in the period when Owen Treece hit a basket, a triple and a layup off a steal at the buzzer to make it 54-45.

Clayton Proffitt opened the fourth quarter by drilling a left corner triple, then Jake Hilleary converted a layup after an offensive rebound to pull Van Wert within four, 54-50. After a Mangus basket, Treece hit a pair of foul shots to make it 56-52.

However, John Barker drained a three pointer to increase Shawnee’s lead to 56-52 halfway through the quarter, then a short time later Jarin Bertke nailed a trey to push the lead to 64-53.

“They were making a run on us and we needed an answer,” Shawnee head coach Mark Triplett said. “Those were a couple of big buckets and we executed and got someone open.”

“Mangas and (Tyson) Elwer created some matchup problems and we kind of stopped their pick-and-roll, but when they kicked it to the corner to Bertke and he hit the three, that wasn’t the nail in the coffin, but pretty darn close,” Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said.

From there, Shawnee used free throws to secure the win and improve to 14-0 (5-0 WBL).

After back-to-back buckets by Treece, Van Wert led the visitors 15-14 with 50 seconds left in the first quarter, but baskets by Elwer and Mangas gave Shawnee an 18-15 lead at the end of the period.

Mangas added eight more in the second quarter and Barker added five to help increase the lead to 34-24 at halftime. Treece exploded for 16 of his 31 points in the third quarter, including three triples, while Managas countered with four baskets and three foul shots.

“Treece is averaging 24 points per game and he’s an impressive player and plays so hard,” Triplett said. “He’s really a fun kid to watch but not a fun kid to prepare for. He was everything he was advertised to be and I thought he was tremendous tonight.”

Despite the loss, Laudick was pleased with his team’s effort against one of the top teams in Ohio.

“I keep telling the guys there are brighter days ahead of us and they’re starting to believe that,” Laudick said. “Our schedule doesn’t get any easier but at the same time if we give the same effort there are some winnable games we can get.”

In addition to Treece, Hilleary hit double digits with 12 points, while Bertke finished with 10 for the Indians. Brady Wheeler and Elwer each finished with nine points, and the 6-5 Elwer added nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

As a team, Van Wert was 20 of 51 (39 percent) from the floor, 5 of 7 from the foul line and had 19 rebounds and 14 turnovers. The Indians were 24 of 47 (51 percent) from the floor and 18 of 25 from the free throw line, to go along with 29 rebounds and 11 turnovers.

Van Wert (3-10, 1-4 WBL) will host Coldwater tonight, while Shawnee will entertain state ranked Lima Sr. in a marquee non-conference matchup.

Scoring summary

Van Wert 15 9 21 11 – 56
Shawnee 18 16 20 16 – 70

Van Wert: Clayton Proffitt 2-0-5; Owen Treece 11-4-31; Keaton Brown 1-0-3; Nate Jackson 2-0-5; Jake Hilleary 4-2-12

Shawnee: John Barker 3-0-8; Brady Wheeler 2-5-9; Jarin Bertke 3-2-10; George Mangas 12-10-34; Tyson Elwer 4-0-9

JV: Van Wert 49-40