Titans claim sectional crown

 

OTTAWA - For the ninth straight season Ottawa Glandorf earned themselves a sectional title as they defeated Coldwater 52-22 on Saturday evening. 

Unlike the previous eight wins under head coach Troy Yant the Titans earned this victory on their home floor at the Supreme Court due to changes in this seasons tournament schedule that sees the better seasons hosting games in the opening round before heading to a neutral venue for their remaining games.

Coldwater jumped out to a 3-0 lead a minute and a half into the contest on a three point goal by senior Courtney May but would find themselves in control of the scoreboard for just a brief period of time before the Titans snagged the advantage. 

Chloee Glenn started the scoring for OG and helped to give the Titans the lead on the next time down the floor on a fast break basket by senior teammate Kelsey Erford at 4-3 with 5:38 remaining in the opening period. 

Ottawa Glandorf continued to utilize their frantic pressure defense through the rest of the quarter by forcing a total of nine Cavalier turnovers to lead a 10-0 run and keep the visitors scoreless for over four minutes until a pair of Jenna Leugers free throws.

Leugers cut the Titans lead to 10-8 with 1:39 before the first period stoppage on her 10th three of the season before baskets by Myka Aldrich and Glenn sent OG to a 14-8 lead at the buzzer.

Similarly to how they keep their opponents off the board in the first, Ottawa Glandorf held the Cavs offense in check for the opening half of the second period before 6'3 sophomore Riley Rismiller tossed in her only basket of the game to cut the lead to 23-11. 

Junior post Erin Kaufman who was tasked defensively with clamping down on the Cavs leading scorer and rebounder exploded in the second eight minutes of play for eight of her game high 14 points and a pair of assists that included a baseball toss to Erford for a fast break basket.

Leading 31-13 at the break the Titans who forced 19 takeaways in the first half continued their run in the third on a pair of baskets by Erford and single baskets by Aldrich and both Erin and Katie Kaufman. 

Ahead on the scoreboard 37-13 with two and a half minutes of play in the period the Titans bench and home fans erupted as a three point goal from sophomore Emma Brinkman found it's way to the bottom of the net. Brinkman, back from a broken foot injury that had saddled her for a portion of the season helped the home team up their lead to 44-15 at the buzzer. 

Held to just a single bucket in the third by Janel Bruns with 2:00 remaining, the Cavalier offense amassed a trio of makes from the field in the final stanza from Leugers, Annelise Harlamert, and finally Paige Siefring with under a minute to go in the game.

Ottawa Glandorf started the running clock on the contest with 5:00 remaining on a Chloee Glenn basket for a 50-15 lead and finished with a pair of free throws from junior Ella Okuley on their way to the win.

Coldwater sees their season come to an end at 9-12 while the Titans move to 21-2 and will be in action on Thursday at 5:30 P.M. at the Elida Fieldhouse in District semifinal play against rival Liberty Benton in a game broadcast live on WZOQ Radio

Scoring:

OG (52):

Kelsey Erford 10

Ella Okuley 2

Emma Brinkman 3

Myka Aldrich 6

Erin Kaufman 14

Katie Kaufman 4

Chloee Glenn 13

FT: 5/5

3PT: 1 (Brinkman)

TO: 15

Coldwater (22):

Jenna Leugers 7

Annelise Harlamert 3

Courtney May 4

Madison Wendel 2

Janel Bruns 2

Paige Siefring 2

Riley Rismiller 2

FT: 4/6

3PT: 2 (Leugers, May)

TO: 26