Ottawa-Glandorf’s Jake Dible shoots against Van Wert’s Jacob Kelly during Monday’s game at Robert J. Hermiller Gymnasium in Ottawa.
OTTAWA – Van Wert hung around most of the game.
Then, Ottawa-Glandorf had enough and swept the Cougars aside in the final quarter.
O-G put four players in double figures in a 79-60 boys basketball victory over Van Wert in a makeup game Monday at Hermiller Gymnasium.
The Titans led 43-36 at the half and 57-47 after three quarters.
The Titans’ defense clamped down on the Cougars’ outside shooters in the final quarter and were able to pull away.
“Give Van Wert credit,” O-G coach Tyson McGlaughlin said. “They made a lot of shots in the first half and we didn’t do a good job preventing them of getting some open looks. It’s a win in the WBL (Western Buckeye League) and that’s the most important thing.’’
O-G is 12-0, 3-0 in the Western Buckeye League. Van Wert is 3-7, 0-3 in the WBL.
Owen Hiegel paced O-G with 17 points, eight in the second half. Ethan White had 16 points.
Jay Kaufman and Bryce Schroeder had 11 points. Kaufman battled foul trouble most of the night and had seven rebounds.
Jakoby Kelly had 17 points for Van Wert. Blake Henry also had 17 points.
“It’s been the story of our season,” Van Wert coach Mark Bagley said. “It’s there. We haven’t found it yet. That was a brutally physical game tonight and that wasn’t to our advantage.
“O-G is a great team. Their role players made threes tonight. We had to double (Jay) Kaufman. When you do that, you have to rotate and they hit open shots.’’
O-G won the boards 25-23.
A big key was 3-pointers.
Van Wert was 4 of 6 on threes at halftime, but finished 5 of 10.
“We may have discussed that (three pointers) at halftime,” McGlaughlin said.
O-G was 12 of 22 on 3-pointers, with Schroeder and White both sinking three each.
“It’s hard to beat a good team when they shoot the ball that well,” Bagley said.
Ottawa-Glandorf came out in a press-and-run mood.
And Van Wert was fine with that.
“They got some to go early, got some confidence and it turned into a dogfight for a little bit,” McGlaughlin said.
The Titans ran their way to a 22-20 lead after the first quarter.
The Titans went on a 12-5 run to start the second to pull out to a 34-26 lead.
O-G led 43-36 at the half.
By the break, White had 16 points for the Titans on 6 of 6 shooting. He had three 3-pointers.
Kelly had nine at the half.
The Titans pressed, but in the halfcourt they used a number of players on Kelly.
“We wanted to make him work,” McGlaughlin said of Kelly. “You’re not going to stop Jakoby Kelly. You have to make sure that he earns things and I think we did a good job of that. He’s a phenominal player.’’
