VAN WERT — After a slow start, Jefferson’s boys basketball team had battled within 27-23 to start the second half Monday night.

Van Wert controlled the third quarter 14-5 and ended up with a 54-41 non-conference victory on a snowy night outside The Cougars’ Den.

Jefferson coach Marc Smith was still pleased.

“You never want to lose, so we’re disappointed in that. At the same time, we did a lot right that would have won a lot of other basketball games,” Smith acknowledged. “When we executed our offense, we got a lot of quality shots and knocked a good number down. We just struggled with turnovers (18). It was good to see Michael (Wiltsie; 15 markers, 3 3s) have a good game from the outside and Matt (Gerdeman; 16) do well inside.”

Unfortunately for the Jeffcats (10-9), those two were the only ones that scored in the third period: a trey by Wiltsie and a basket by Gerdeman. Six miscues helped do them in. Senior Chris Morrow (14 counters, 6 boards, 3 blocks) led the host Cougars — celebrating Senior Night activities — with five in the period and when classmate Jayden Taylor (5 boards, 4 assists) tipped in a miss at the horn, the hosts had a 41-28 advantage.

Van Wert (13-6) coach Dave Froelich credited his defense for the win.

“I felt we did a real nice job there, especially Jayden on (Jordan) Jettinghoff. Jettinghoff wasn’t scoring but he was getting them into their offense; Jayden disrupted that,” Froelich began.

In the fourth period, the Wildcats extended their defense in an effort to rally and were forced to foul. The Cougars ruined that strategy by canning 11-of-14 from the free-throw line (15-of-19 overall for 78.9%). Gerdeman scored six in the canto but it wasn’t enough as the visitors went down to defeat.

Jefferson came out in a 2-3 zone in the first period in an effort to neutralize the 6-7 Morrow (20 ppg, 11 rpg); they did. Unfortunately, the other Cougars didn’t cooperate from the perimeter, especially sophomore Jacob Bagley. He came off the bench to down three bombs (15 markers total) on consecutive possessions to give his team a 17-8 lead late. Josh Miller’s inside basket with 4.1 ticks to go reduced that to 17-10.

In period 2, senior Derek Strick (12 counters, 6 assists) took charge for Van Wert, downing 10 of his points. His two 3-balls forced Smith to call time at 6:05 and ditch the zone to go man. That did the trick as Jefferson began its comeback. They hit six of their final 10 shots in the period (16-of-34 total, 3-of-7 3s, for 47.1%), including a triple-pump basket by Gerdeman with 31 ticks to go, to get within 27-23.

“We didn’t have a good matchup with Morrow, so we used the zone. We know they’ve struggled hitting the outside shot, so we took the chance they’d continue to,” Smith added. “They shot us out of it. I thought we did pretty good on Morrow but they force you to gamble. I told the kids after the game that we can build on this for the tournament. Without a conference title to win, basketball is a tournament game and next Wednesday, back on this court, is when it really counts.”

Jefferson hit 6-of-7 singles (85.7%); secured 21 caroms (7 offensive) as Matt Antalis led a balanced effort with four; and added 14 fouls. They visit Ada Friday.

“All year, we’ve been trying to get balanced scoring. We get a little bit more each time but we’re still a work in progress,” Froelich added. “At the same time, we need to make sure Chris is getting his touches. Jefferson has a nice team and they are still growing. They play hard and really executed their offense tonight.”

Van Wert netted 16-of-39 shots (7-of-18 long range) for 41 percent. They dragged 22 off the glass (10 offensive) and added 10 miscues and 13 fouls. They invade Kenton Friday.

In the JV ranks, Van Wert improved to 15-4 with a 33-24 win.

Tyler Putman scored 14 for the victors. Logan Bonifas answered with eight for the ’Cats (11-8).