DELPHOS — The schools might not be in session but that does not mean that the basketball season comes to a halt as well as the Cougars of Van Wert traveled to Delphos to face off with the Wildcats.
The Cougars pulled away in the second quarter and the Wildcats could never recover as the Cougars won 49-38 at the Middle School Auditorium.
Both teams struggled to get shots off for about the first two minutes of the game. Van Wert eventually started to get some points on the board as they outscored Delphos 10-6 at the end of the first quarter after Jenna Miller shot a deep three that just missed at the buzzer.
Jefferson struggled when the Cougars put a full-court press on them as they were forced into eight turnovers and only shot 10 times; the Cougars got off 18 shots.
“We looked for a run which our press eventually gave us as we struggled at the beginning of the first quarter. Our press helped us to get some steals after a couple of minutes,” stated Cougar coach Roland Alvarez.
In the second period, Van Wert came out stronger as they tallied 19 to Jefferson’s nine. The Cougars cause Jefferson 16 turnovers going into the break as they only had six. Jefferson rebounded well but couldn’t capitalize on offensive rebounds and didn’t get many breakaways.
Jefferson outrebounded the Cougars by 12 over the contest as Miller led in that area (8) as well as points (19). She banked a three early in the second period from straight behind the arc. Although Jefferson played a little better on the offensive side. Van Wert improved even more as the Cougars took a 14-point lead — 29-15 — into the locker room.
“Jenna Miller really carried us a lot and we really need someone to step up and put some points on the board along with her. She really handled our offense well with the pressure,” stated veteran Jefferson mentor Dave Hoffman.
Jefferson came out strong defensively in the third period, only giving up eight points and cutting down some on their turnovers. They also caused Van Wert to get into some foul trouble as the quarter came to an end. Jefferson was in the bonus on every foul for the last minute or two of the quarter. Jefferson’s defensive rebounding also picked up and it appeared they had some momentum heading into the final quarter.
“Our confidence needs to improve we have some girls who are struggling on the offensive side. We lost some focus after half as we allowed them to get some runs and outshoot us on foul shots,” added Alvarez.
Miller banked a 3 in, this time from the corner, to try to rally the Wildcats but they couldn’t score enough baskets. Jefferson was in the 2-shot bonus early in the fourth quarter as Van Wert got into big foul trouble. Van Wert never even got in the 1-and-1 as the buzzer sounded but they escaped.
“The first half, we had too many turnovers and were unable to make enough foul shots as they capitalized on that. The second half, we played more aggressive and never gave up. We once again had some people come off the bench to provide us some help,” added Hoffman.
The Wildcats fall to 4-5 and host Paulding on Thursday. The Cougars rise to 6-5 and take on Paulding next Saturday.
In JV action, the Cougars prevailed 40-29. The Cougars were led in scoring by Lindsey Frey with nine; Jefferson got eight from Shelbi Brown.
