O-G's defense stymies LCC

OTTAWA - Ottawa-Glandorf gave away a hefty 50-50 ticket prize, a game ball and a free meal at a local restaurant during its 58-48 boys basketball win over Lima Central Catholic on Saturday night.

But maybe the most significant giveaway of the night was the total of 29 turnovers the Titans forced from LCC.

The Thunderbirds (3-2) carried out their game plan in most areas. But in the end, those turnovers and a fourth-quarter offensive burst by the Titans turned the game O-G's way.

Taylor Kuhlman scored 23 points and Jacob Moening had 12 points to lead Ottawa-Glandorf (3-0). Taylor Royster was LCC's top scorer with 11 points.

It's nothing new for Ottawa-Glandorf to produce an abundance of turnovers. That was one of the key elements in the Titans' Division III state championship last season.

But there still is some work to do right now once those turnovers are created, coach Josh Leslie said after Saturday night's game.

"I thought our pressure hurt them some. That's what we want. But the problem right now is we're not getting enough points off those turnovers," Leslie said. "As the year progresses, hopefully, we'll be able to turn those turnovers into more points."

Despite 16 LCC turnovers in the first half, the Titans were only up 25-22 when the teams went to the locker rooms.

The Thunderbirds took the lead twice in the third quarter and still were within a point early in the fourth quarter.

It was a three-point game with 4:30 to play before the Titans ended the game with an 11-4 run.

"We wanted to try to get them into a half-court game and not give up the easy baskets, and I thought we did that," LCC coach Bob Seggerson said.

"We wanted to not be dominated on the boards, we wanted to rebound with them. I thought we did that. And we wanted to take care of the ball. We didn't do that. They won that part of the game and that was enough," he said.

Leslie said, "It was a typical LCC-Ottawa-Glandorf game. It's going to be physical, it's going to come down to a few possessions at the end. We were able to make one more run at the end. We had one little run at the end where we could finally get some breathing room."

Kuhlman scored 16 of O-G's first 25 points, but went scoreless in the third quarter after leaving the game with his third foul. He came back with seven points in the final quarter, though, including a 3-pointer after LCC had pulled to within one point, 42-41.

"He's been through these games enough, we expect that out of him," Leslie said. "We're going to lean on him when we need points. He hit some tough, tough shots. He's going to score, we need to get some other guys going."

Ottawa-Glandorf shot 40 percent (22 of 55) on field goals and LCC hit 44 percent. The Thunderbirds had a 30-21 rebounding edge. But their turnover total was more than twice O-G's 13.