Jefferson junior Ross Thompson led the Wildcats in scoring with 26 points Monday night with a variety of shots, including this runner over Van Wert’s Nick Wolford. However, the visiting Cougars won the game by 23.

The main Cougar culprit was senior A.J. Smith (9 boards) with nine bombs en route to 28 markers, along with 16 from junior Matt Bidlack (5 boards, 3 steals) and 10 from sophomore Connor Holliday. The Cougars (11-10) canned 15-of-32 from beyond the arc to Jefferson’s 2-of-7 as senior Joey Hurless delivered 15 assists.
“They are a very skilled team with a lot of weapons. That’s a good basketball team and program,” Jefferson coach Marc Smith said. “They are solid from number 1 through seven or eight, so you have to pick your poison as to what you need to focus on and hope. They also turn you over with their defense and that also leads to points; we didn’t have a lot of turnovers overall but they came in bunches and led to spurts.”

The Wildcats (4-16) received 26 counters and seven rebounds from junior Ross Thompson, recovering nicely from mid-season knee surgery. Freshman Trey Smith added 17. The Wildcats canned 22-of-32 free throws for 68.7 percent.

No matter what zone the Wildcats tried, the Cougars had the answer from long range. When A.J. Smith hit the first of his long-range baskets just 45 ticks into the game, the visitors led for good. In fact, he hit three triples in the first period alone as the Cougars canned 7-of-14 shots in the canto, 4-of-8 downtown. The Wildcats got four each from Thompson and Trey Smith and used the free-throw line — 7-of-8 in the period — to help stay close. When Kyle Keber hit a bomb from the left corner with 19 ticks showing, the Cougars led 20-11.