Ottawa-Glandorf drubs Liberty Center to set up regional rematch

ELIDA — Once you step across the half-court line against Ottawa-Glandorf, you'd better have a really good plan. No. 8-ranked Liberty Center found that out the hard way Thursday night, as the Titans marched to an easy 53-18 victory in a Division III regional semifinal at the Elida Fieldouse. "We came out and played great," O-G forward Karsyn Erford said. "We truly did stop them. After we stopped them, that built our offensive momentum, and we kind of just went off from there." Erford led the way with 17 points and 9 rebounds. No. 3 O-G (24-2) will move on to face No. 5 Margaretta (25-2), setting up a rematch of last year's regional final that marked the end of the Titans' run. The Tigers (23-3) were looking for their own revenge from 2023, but came up against a buzzsaw. Ottawa-Glandorf forced 10 turnovers and limited Liberty Center to 3-for-20 shooting in the first half as it built a 21-9 advantage. Even so, Titans coach Troy Yant said he would have liked to see more from his team defensively in the first half, and delivered that message in the locker room. "When you play great defense, you want the run-outs, you want the easy buckets on offense," Yant said. "You want it to complement the other side of the floor, and we weren't really getting that. "I wouldn't say the defense wasn't locked in, just on the scoreboard we weren't really getting the results that we normally do." Yant got what he asked for. O-G exploded for 25 points during the third quarter as the atmosphere reduced to back-and-forth chants between the student sections. "We knew we could have done better," Erford said. "We gave up some easy looks, we didn't help as much as we could. We weren't exactly where we should have been. It's something to build off of and something to know for Saturday. Behind Erford, Carlie Brinkman added 9 points and Katie Kaufman had 8 for the Titans. They know what it will take in the final, 7 p.m. Saturday at Elida Fieldhouse, when they go for revenge against Margaretta. "We've been taking it one game at a time, and if (a rematch) came it came," Erford said. "The opportunity is here now. Now we're going to lock in and focus on that game. We're going to give it our all, and we know they're going to give it their all, too. I think it will be a pretty good game." Margaretta defeated Canal Winchester Harvest Prep 48-36 in Thursday's first semifinal. O-G is seeking its sixth state tournament appearance in a quest for an elusive first title. The Titans were runners-up in 2015, 2016 and 2021. LIBERTY CENTER (23-3) Gray 3-11 0-2—6, Miller 0-1 2-4—2, Barrett 3-8 4-4—10. TOTALS: 6-33 6-10—18. OTTAWA-GLANDORF (24-2) Erford 7-15 2-4—17, Brinkman 4-12 1-1—9, Kaufman 2-4 4-6—8, Aldrich 3-3 0-0—7, Kimmet 2-6 2-2—7, A. Grothause 1-4 0-0—2, Lammers 0-0 1-2—1, McKee 1-1 0-0—2. TOTALS: 20-48 10-15—53. Liberty Center&emsp;4&emsp;5&emsp;7&emsp;2—18 Ottawa-Glandorf 11 10 25 7—53 3-POINT GOALS: LC 0-9; O-G 3-11 (Erford, Aldrich, Kimmet). REBOUNDS: O-G 40, LC 17. TURNOVERS: LC 16, O-G 13.