Columbus Grove’s Carlee McCluer (20) collides with Delphos Jefferson’s Addy Stewart on a McCluer steal attempt during Thursday night’s game in Delphos.
Don Speck | The Lima News
DELPHOS — Columbus Grove took charge midway through the third quarter.
And from there, it snowballed.
Columbus Grove took advantage of forcing 27 Delphos Jefferson turnovers and posted a 61-52 victory over the Wildcats in a Northwest Conference girls basketball game Thursday night at Delphos Jefferson.
“Playing in their gym and coming out with an NWC win, it was a big win for us tonight,” Grove coach Brian Schroeder said.
Carlee McCluer had 17 points to power Columbus Grove.
Lauren Schroeder had 12 points and two 3-pointers. Sophomore Abby Gladwell came off the bench to score 12 points with three 3-pointers.
Delphos Jefferson is 11-7, 4-2 in the NWC. Columbus Grove is 10-8, 5-1 in the NWC.
Entering Thursday, Delphos Jefferson, Columbus Grove and Spencerville were all tied for first in the NWC at 4-1. Spencerville beat Ada 68-39 to keep a share of first place.
Macy Wallace had 16 points for Jefferson, while Alli McClurg had 15.
Grove led 26-22 early in the third quarter.
Then, the Bulldogs started taking the ball to the rim for baskets against a Jefferson 1-3-1 zone.
When Jefferson took that away, Grove sank three third-quarter 3-pointers.
Just like that, Grove went on a 10-0 run to open up a 36-22 lead with 5:22 left in the third.
“A lot of it (Grove’s surge) came from their offense, with their high pick and we didn’t help defense,” Jefferson coach Dave Hoffman said. “Then, they’d get in for the layup. … Then, they got on a roll and we turned the ball over.
“They hit some timely threes. A lot of times threes are momentum. They hit three in a row and a gap opened up. We’re not taking care of the ball well enough to recover from those.’’
The Bulldogs’ lead mushroomed to 45-29 in the third after Gladwell hit two 3-pointers and a driving three-point play.
Grove took a 48-36 lead into the final quarter.
“We wanted the tempo up and down. We wanted to push the basketball,” Schroeder said. “I think in that third quarter maybe the pace of the game caught up with Delphos’ transition defense a little bit. Then, they went 1-3-1 and we did a nice job of getting to our spots, we had good ball movement and Abby (Gladwell) hit some big threes for us.’’
The closest Jefferson could get in the final quarter was the final nine-point spread.
Grove won the rebounding battle, 25-24. Rylee Sybert had seven rebounds for Grove.
Devyn Carder had seven rebounds for Jefferson.
Columbus Grove took a 12-10 lead after the first quarter.
The Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to start the second quarter to pull out to a 20-10 lead at the 5:52 mark of the second.
Grove’s McCluer led the way with three driving layups in the second quarter.
Grove led 24-19 at the half behind McCluer’s 11 points.
Defensively, Grove went with a full-court press and zone in the back end. The result was 14 turnovers by Jefferson at the half.
While Jefferson had 27 turnovers, Grove finished with 20.
Grove finished the night 6 of 13 on 3-pointers. Jefferson was 5 of 14.
“We have a really good shooters,” Schroeder. “We have a lot of girls who have put a lot of time in the gym.’’
The Lima News sports department can be reached at 567-242-0451.
