1/7/2009 1:04:00 AM
Lady Cougars hold off Lady Lancers
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| Van Wert’s Alexa Jent (12) and Lincolnview’s Morgan Miller (40) battle for position on a rebound during Monday evening’s game in Middle Point. |
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BY JIM COX
Times Bulletin Correspondent
sports@timesbulletin.com
MIDDLE POINT - A game with 54 turnovers - 30 by Lincolnview, 24 by Van Wert - won't make anybody very happy. For the Lady Cougars (3-5), though, it was at least a victory - 47-39 against the scrappy Lady Lancers (1-6).
Van Wert never trailed after the first two minutes of the game, but the lead was never safe until the last minute and a half of the game. The Lancers' Morgan Miller scored off of a Taylor Fries assist to start the scoring. Van Wert's Jessica McClellan slashed inside for a layup to tie it - the only field goal of the game for the Cougars' leading scorer. Miller scored on an in-bounds play to make it 4-2, Lancers. Van Wert freshman Molly Gamble's put-back tied it at 4 with 5:08 left in the first quarter. She duplicated that feat 50 seconds later to give Van Wert its first lead. Lincolnview sophomore Shelby Osborne came off the bench and immediately canned a jumper from the right elbow to tie it 6-6. Cougar point guard Kandace Stanski hit a six-foot runner, and Gamble banked in another put-back - 10-6, Cougs, at the 3:18 mark.
At the end of one period Van Wert led 17-11, mainly due to seven Lancer turnovers, although the Cougars had five of their own. The second quarter was worse - nine turnovers by Lincolnview, eight by Van Wert - and the Cougars held a 24-17 lead at the break. Van Wert's lead fluctuated between five and nine points in the third quarter, and it was 35-26 going into the fourth.
Two Fries free throws with 3:13 left in the game cut the lead to 39-34. McClellan hit both ends of a one-and-one - 41-34 - but Osborne powered inside to make it 41-36 at the 2:25 mark. Olivia Moore arrived from the bench to save the Cougs, though, bouncing in a foul-line jumper and two free throws to put the game pretty much out of reach - 45-36 with 1:23 left.
Besides Van Wert's turnover edge, the Cougars out-boarded Lincolnview 26-24. Both teams shot 37 percent from the field - 19 of 52 for Van Wert, 14 of 38 for the Lancers. The Cougs were much more accurate from the line, but didn't go there nearly as often, hitting 78 percent (7 of 9) to Lincolnview's 58 percent (11 of 19).
Leading scorers for Van Wert were Moore (13, despite playing less than half the game), Madison Kohn (7), Gamble (6) and Stanski (6). Eleven Cougars saw action and 10 of them scored.
Stanski is also now shouldering more of the ball-handling duties.
"We rely a lot on Kandace as a leader," Van Wert coach Destri Bockey said. "Anytime she can bring the ball up the floor, that puts Jessica (McClellan) at a wing position and lets her get into the offense a little more. Kandace has been doing a good job, and I really have a lot of confidence in her."
Lincolnview was led in scoring by Brittany Katalenas, Osborne and Miller with 12, 11 and 8. The turnovers continued to frustrate Lancer coach Dave Evans.
"That's been the story the whole season - the turnovers and the decision making," Evans said. "We have to get better. Several times we got within five late in the game. They (the Cougars) kept firing away, but we couldn't get the rebound, so it didn't hurt them any. I can never fault our effort, though."
Van Wert (5-3) won the junior varsity game 33-17. Alex Morrow, Katie Kline and Brooke Keber led Cougar scoring with 13, 8 and 7. Calista Dowdy led the Lancers (1-5) with 6.
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