Titans pull away from Cavaliers

ELIDA - Coldwater girls basketball coach Connie May said that sometimes teams that like to press don't like being pressed themselves.

The Cavaliers forced Ottawa-Glandorf into 24 turnovers, but the Titans returned the favor by forcing 24 Coldwater turnovers en route to ending the Cavaliers' season with a 52-33 win in the Division III district semifinals on Thursday at the Elida Fieldhouse.

The Titans return Saturday at 3 p.m. to face Liberty-Benton, which beat Lima Central Catholic 33-30 in the second semifinal. The Cavaliers end the season at 13-11.

The turnovers started tabulating early, with both teams tallying two on their first two possessions. Coldwater jumped out 6-2 early, but the Titans tied up the score with a healthy diet of sisters Elissa and Dani Ellerbrock.

Coldwater led 10-8 after one quarter and was up 12-10 with 7:20 left in the second quarter when the Titans caught fire and went on a 17-4 run to end the half. Elissa Ellerbrock knocked down a three-pointer with 6:45 left to put O-G up for good at 13-12. Dani Ellerbrock followed with a hoop-and-harm three-point play to make it 16-12. Lauren Leugers cut the deficit to two at 16-14 and later Denise Schwieterman did like wise at 18-16, but the Titans scored the final nine points of the quarter as Lexi Schroeder, Erin Basinger and Elissa Ellerbrock hit baskets with Elissa Ellerbrock adding three free throws to take the lead 27-16 at halftime.

"There's that old saying that pressing teams don't like to be pressed," May said. "It caused us to rush things and dribble more than we would have liked to dribble."

Ottawa completed an 11-0 run by scoring the first two points of the second half as Coldwater went nearly 6 1/2 minutes without scoring. Brooke Welsch hit a three-pointer to end the drought with 5:16 left in the third. Erica Sudhoff had four straight points to get the Cavaliers as close as 33-26 with two minutes left, but Dani Ellerbrock and Kadie Hempfling followed with back-to-back baskets to put the lead back into double digits at 42-28 after three quarters.

"After the first quarter, we were right where we wanted to be. Even at halftime we still didn't feel too bad," May said. "We'd get it down to nine or eight, but couldn't get over the hump."

The Titans tried to make it a 20-point game through the third quarter, but the Cavaliers fought back to keep the game at a respectable pace right to the end.

"They were making the shots and getting the rebounds (O-G held a 35-26 advantage on the boards), and we weren't hitting the shots," May said. "We missed a lot of shots that I'd say we hit on a regular basis. It was hard.

"Not to take anything away from O-G. They did a good job of getting us scattered and rushing us. They owned the boards and that hurt us."

Elissa Ellerbrock was 12-of-13 from the foul line en route to leading all players with 23 points. Younger sister Dani finished with 12.

Sudhoff scored 12 to lead the Cavaliers in her final game in orange and black. Classmate Welsch finished with seven.