Ottawa-Glandorf’s Karsyn Erford grabs a rebound during Thursday night’s game at St. Marys.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
ST. MARYS — Ottawa-Glandorf’s Lily Haselman was all-energy all the time.
Haselman flew around both ends of the floor and had a handful of steals, assists, rebounds and points.
That helped O-G hold off a late St. Marys’ charge and post a 55-48 victory against St. Marys in a girls basketball game Thursday night.
O-G led 29-25 at the half.
Haselman started the third quarter with a steal and layup and the Titans’ man press forced St. Marys into 12 third-quarter turnovers.
That helped O-G outscore the Roughriders 16-6 in the third to take a 45-31 lead after three.
“I knew I had to be a leader,” Haselman said. “It was a close game and we had to get some quick buckets and I needed to bring my team up (with steals). I had to keep playing no matter what. I had to keep pushing.’’
O-G is 10-2, 4-0 in the Western Buckeye League. St. Maris is 8-5, 3-1 in the WBL.
Entering Thursday, O-G, St. Marys and Bath
were all 3-0 atop the WBL.
“We jump started our defense and that’s what took it for us in the third quarter,” O-G coach Troy Yant said. “
Katie Kaufman paced O-G in scoring with 14 points and six rebounds, all on the offensive end.
Haselman scored 12, with two 3-pointers. It was two points away from her career-high. She also had five rebounds and close to six steals and six assists.
“She (Haselman) made a lot of things happen on both ends of the floor,” Yant said. “She jump started the defense, hit some buckets for us, broke loose and led the fastbreak for us. … It was definitely her best game of the year and if she can play that way, it’s going to definitely elevate our entire team.’’
Kaelyn Grothause had nine points with six rebounds.
St. Marys graduated 1,000-point scorer Kendall Dieringer and Noe Ruane.
But several players had a big impact on Thursday to get the Roughriders back in the game in the final quarter.
Ella Jacobs had 14 points and two 3-pointers.
Morgan Hesse scored 14 and Cora Rable scored nine.
“They turned the pressure on in the third quarter,” St. Marys coach Jon Burke said. “We struggled with that, and once we got our rhythm back (in the fourth quarter) we were able to make a push there at the end.
“I’m proud of our effort and proud of our defense (most 2-3, but press at the end). O’G’s tough on the offensive boards and we didn’t win all those battles.’’
O-G won the rebounds, 28-24, including 12-6 at the offensive end.
O-G started the third quarter on a 6-0 run, off of three straight St. Marys’ turnovers.
Haselman sank a 3-pointer and the Titans led 38-28.
“The third quarter we came out with more energy,” Yant said.
But in spite of the 45-31 lead, St. Marys rallied back and got within 53-48 with 1:40 to go.
That was as close as St. Marys would get.
During that run, St. Marys got 3-pointer from Reese Rable, Jacobs and Cora Rable.
Kaitlyn Kimmet finished the game off with a pair of three throws with 30 seconds left to make it 55-48.
“We made some turnovers that cost us at times, but we also hit big shots and got back in the game,” Burke said.
Burke also said that Hesse was under the weather all day and had to sleep during the junior varsity game.
“The guts that she (Hesse) had was impressive,” Burke said.
St. Marys came out in a 2-3 zone and it seemed to slow the Titans down.
The Roughriders led 13-8 after the first quarter and built its lead to 16-10 after a 3-pointer by Jacobs.
O-G came back behind sparkplug Haselman, who hit a 3-pointer and a nice assist to Grothause on the fastbreak.
That helped to trigger a 10-4 run.
Emma Brinkman’s 3-pointer tied the game at 20, as O-G was rebounding and running.
Grothause hit a 3-pointer and O-G led 27-23.
The Titans led 29-25 at the half.
Chloee Glenn didn’t start, but came off the bench for the Titans, as she comes back from her knee surgery from last season.
Tom Usher wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
