DELPHOS — The Columbus Grove Lady Bulldogs paid a visit to Delphos Jefferson High School Thursday night to battle the Lady Wildcats in a Northwest Conference battle.
The Bulldogs prevailed 67-49.
Both teams got off to a good start as they were both being aggressive and playing good defense at the beginning of the first quarter. The quarter was tied most of the way but the Wildcats grabbed the 13-11 advantage at the buzzer. Emily Fought (8 points, 5 rebounds) drained some key baskets to keep the ’Cats tied with the Bulldogs. Ashley Watkins (6 points, 3 rebounds) hit the first 3-pointer for the Wildcats, tying the game at 9 with 1:45 remaining in the quarter. Fifty-five seconds later, Emily VanGrootheest (6 rebounds) made a basket off a putback — many of her rebounds were offensive — to give the Wildcats their lead for the quarter. Courtney Diller (13 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists) was a key player for the Bulldogs underneath as she rebounded the ball and put it back up for a basket to keep the Bulldogs close and eventually give them the win.
“We had a good first half as we hung around for most of the game. We need to hit the boards harder and not put the other team at the foul line as much. We need to convert on some of those easy baskets,” stated Jefferson coach Dave Hoffman.
The game was still sticking close together as the teams fought right up to the last 25 seconds of the second quarter to see who would take the lead into the break or whether it would be a tie. Morgan Kohls (19 points, 10 rebounds) played extremely strong for the Lady Bulldogs by getting to the line to shoot 4-for-4 in the quarter. Jenna Miller (22 points, 5 rebounds) drove to the basket for the Wildcats to go to the foul line and drain a couple of key baskets to keep the game close. The Wildcats were unable to convert with under a minute left, turning the ball over. The Bulldogs converted to take the 27-25 lead into the break.
“I have to say that we took Jefferson a little too lightly as we were thinking that it would be easy but they hung in with us until about the third quarter. We finally found our shooting touch and rebounding was a key factor for the game tonight,” stated Bulldog coach Jerry Hoersten.
The Bulldogs came out extremely aggressive in the third quarter as they outscored the Wildcats 22-11. Kohls and Genna Carpenter (13 points, 4 rebounds) worked the ball around for the Bulldogs and converted on some key baskets and foul shots in the quarter to give them the edge in the game. Miller saw the open 3-pointer and open lane several times over the game and was able to hit the shots in the third and fourth quarters. The Bulldogs lead 49-36 at the end of the third.
Both teams had players in some foul trouble in the period as they were heading to the foul line on almost every foul.
“Jenna did a nice job for us tonight as she did well running the offense and she took the ball to the hole. We need to convert and regroup on transitions with turnovers to not allow the other team to open the gap. The first half we were aggressive and then at the end, we got it back some. We had stretches that we did not do as well as we needed to convert,” added Hoffman.
Jefferson came back strong in the final quarter as they outscored the Bulldogs 13-8.
Jefferson got outrebounded 49-31 as they struggled to get some offensive boards for extra shots. Both struggled in shooting from the field: Jefferson 15-of-61 (4-of-14 from 3s) for 25%; Columbus Grove 20-of-51 (1-of-11 triples) for 39 percent. Kristy Birkemeier added 12 points and 13 boards for the guests.
Bridget Culp (9 points, 6 rebounds) helped to keep the Bulldogs from getting extra shots off the offensive boards as she also worked to drive to the basket to go to the foul line.
“Morgan Kohls and Courtney Diller played their normal game tonight and Genna Carpenter came off the bench and was the biggest standout for us with some key baskets,” added Hoersten.
The Wildcats (5-12, 1-7 NWC) visit Perry for a make-up game on Saturday (1 p.m. JV). The Bulldogs (11-6, 5-3 NWC) will battle with Arlington Saturday at Arlington.
In JV action, the Bulldogs prevailed with the score of 42-34.
The Bulldogs (15-2, 8-0 NWC) were led in scoring by Kelsey McCluer with 10 points. The Wildcats fall to 5-12 (1-7 NWC) as they were led by Bridget Culp with seven points.