OTTOVILLE-It came right down to the nitty gritty on Tuesday night as the Ottoville Big Green hosted the Van Wert Cougars. The Cougars were able to hold off the Big Green in the final seconds to pick up the 59-57 victory.
“With one day to prepare we tried to sell it to our guys that they were going to defend like crazy,” said Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick. “It took us a quarter to figure it out but lucky enough we kind of held them in check as far as the scoreboard but credit goes to our guys for making adjustments in the second quarter.”
Both teams traded punches in the opening quarter as neither team was able to jump out to a big lead. Nate Phillips got the Cougars a lead with a quick basket before Ottoville answered with a three pointer from Michael Turnwald to lead 3-2. The hosts were able to get a lead at the end of the quarter on a pair of free throws from Carter Horstman and a basket by Jace Langhals to lead 11-7.
“Obviously they are a very good basketball team and we hope we are getting to that point throughout the season ,” said Ottoville head coach Keith Uthendorf. “We were impressed with Aiden (Pratt) ‘s performance and they had guys knock down shots in support of him and it’s really hard to guard when they have an inside presence and having guys making outside shots like they did tonight.”
Aiden Pratt was able to fire up the offense in the second quarter as the Cougars were able to have some offensive success. Ottoville was able to lead by three on a three pointer from Turnwald before a free throw from Luke Wessel and a three pointer from Carson Smith quickly tied the game at 14 per side.
Van Wert was able to put up a 8-2 scoring run that featured five points from Pratt and a three pointer from Wessel as the Cougars stretched the lead to 28-21. The Big Green cut the deficit to 28-24 before a basket by Pratt stretched the lead to 30-24.
“I thought (Luke Wessel) he did really well,” said Laudick “I think it’s a carryover from the fourth quarter against Wayne Trace and he’s a left-handed basketball player and not a lot of teams have those and he’s added a lot of muscle in the offseason and he can shoot it from the outside.”
The third quarter was an offensive quarter as the points started to pile up. Alex Suever connected on a three pointer out of halftime to get within 30-27 and a three pointer from Turnwald trimmed it to 32-30. The Big Green was able to tie it at 34 on a basket from Horstman but a Smith three pointer gave the visitors a 37-34 lead.
The Cougars were able to lead by double digits on a three pointer from AJ Profitt but the Big Green wasn’t backing down yet. Kellen Schlagbaum scored four of his nine points in the final minute to trim the deficit to 49-45.
“He (Kellen Schlagbaum) has a good feel when the ball needs to transition and to get downhill and to get to the paint to get himself or his teammates a good shot.” said Uthendorf.
Ottoville was able to trim the deficit in the fourth quarter on a 5-0 scoring run with three points coming from Schlagbaum and basket from Horstman to cut the deficit to 51-50. Schlagbaum connected on a three pointer on the next possession following a Wessel basket to tie at 53. Van Wert found some clutch play at the end as a Smith basket gave them a 55-53 lead and a three point play from Pratt to lead 58-54.
A Wessel free throw extended the lead to 59-54 but a three pointer from Jace Langhals cut the lead to 59-57. A Van Wert foul with three seconds remaining gave the Big Green a chance to tie it. Ottoville missed both free throws but an offensive rebound by Schlagbaum gave them another chance but a blocked shot as the buzzer sounded gave the visitors the victory.
The Cougars improve to 4-1 on the season and weather permitting will visit Columbus Grove on Friday. Ottoville drops to 7-2 and will host Minster on December 28th.
Van Wert 7- 23 – 19 – 10 – 59
Ottoville 11 – 13 – 21- 12 – 57
Van Wert (59)
Aidan Pratt (18) Luke Wessel (14) Carson Smith (13) AJ Profitt (6) Nate Phillips (6) Garett Gunter (2)
Ottoville 57
Kellen Schlagbaum (22) Michael Turnwald (15) Carter Horstman (8) Jace Langhals (7) Alex Suever (5)
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