First Posted: 2/25/2015
VAN WERT — There wasn’t so much a defining moment in Ottoville’s 51-29 win over Fort Jennings in the first round of the Van Wert Division IV girls basketball sectional Wednesday night as there was a declining moment.
Ottoville (15-7) had already beaten Fort Jennings (2-20) twice by big scores this season, but with 2 ½ minutes left in the third quarter the Musketeers were still very much in the game, trailing only 33-25.
Over the last 10 minutes of the game, though, Ottoville gradually wore them down with talent, strength and numbers.
That eight-point lead grew to as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter as Fort Jennings’ upset bid receded.
Bridget Landin had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Brooke Mangas scored 14 points for Ottoville. Haley Wittler led Fort Jennings with seven points.
“Ugly, but survival,” Ottoville coach Dave Kleman said. “I thought our effort was really good physically but we didn’t execute very well defensively what I was trying to do. But we’ve got a couple days to work on it.”
Ottoville will play Lincolnview on Saturday night for a sectional championship. The Lancers beat Patrick Henry 41-30 in Wednesday night’s other game at Van Wert.
Ottoville forced 28 turnovers but it wasn’t until later in the game that those mistakes were converted into points consistently.
“We weren’t finishing when we got the turnovers. We weren’t finishing at the basket,” Kleman said. “It’s the third time we’ve played them. Give them credit, they were out there fighting and scrapping, doing what they could to try to disrupt what we were trying to do.”
The bottom line, though, was that Ottoville gets to play a second tournament game.
“For a couple of our kids that’s the first tournament game they’ve really played in. Hopefully, the jitters are out of the way,” Kleman said.
“Normally the second game is better than the first (tournament) game you play. That’s why I really like to play two games in the sectional instead of one. Hopefully, we’re going to be sharper on Saturday,” he said.
Lincolnview 41, Patrick Henry 30
Lincolnview was down six points in the third quarter but went on a 13-2 run to take control of the game.
Julia Thatcher scored 20 points, Ashton Bowersock had 11 points and Hannah McCleery scored eight points for Lincolnview.
Lincolnview coach Dan Williamson said McCleery’s play at point guard might have been the biggest factor in the Lancers’ win.
“The second half she set the tone offensively and defensively. She forced them to travel a few times, she got some steals. She was the difference tonight,” he said.
“Julia puts up 20 and it’s almost like we take her for granted. We kind of expect it out of her,” he said. “But she played a whale of a game. In the first half she kind of kept us in it. Those two really set the tone for us.”
