Delphos St. John’s-New Bremen boys clash tonight; SCL girls dominate sectional tourney
Delphos St. John’s invaded the hostile confines of Fort Site Fieldhouse Friday night. Greeted with a sea of purple and white balloons this special Senior Night, the Blue Jays accomplished the unthinkable. They beat Fort Recovery 62-49, leaving the Indian Nation singing the blues.
Fort Recovery coach Brian Patch, holding his baby in his arms said, “We had an off shooting night. Becuase of that, we could never gain the momentum.”
Cold may have been the better word choice. The Indians shot 30 percent from the field, 20 percent from three-point range, and a dismal 55 percent from the foul line.
Greg Kahlig proved he’s human. The senior standout struggled from the field with 5-of-18 shooting, including 0-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays were hot, purple hot, shooting 50 percent from the floor, 42 percent from three-range, and 86 percent from the stripe.
St. John’s coach Aaron Elwer said, “We made them defend. Our spacing allowed us open looks. As a result, we shot a high percentage from the floor.”
The tone of the game was established from the get-go. Both defenses locked down in the half-court, resulting in time consuming offensive possessions. The first quarter played out like a football game dead-locked at 7-7.
The first half provided seven lead changes and one tie. St. John’s held a precarious 18-13 half-time advantage. Justin Backus led the attack with eight points. Nate Webb added a three-ball from the deep corner and Curtis Geise followed with a three-ball of his own.
Cody Fiely kept Fort Recovery close with a three-ball and a stickback in the first quarter. Craig Tobe, Michael Gaerke, and Kahlig each scored hard fought baskets in the second quarter.
Coach Pack said, “We played not to lose, instead of playing to win. Early on, we had some shots we turned down and then later in the game, we took some ill-advised shots.”
The third quarter belonged to St. John’s and Nate Webb. The senior forward drained three triples en route to an 11-point explosion as the Blue Jays outscored Recovery 15-8. St. John’s led 33-21. Kahlig was held in check with just one free throw.
The fourth quarter was a war. Both teams played physical and seemed out of control. Floor burns and first downs were the norms. It all started with a steal and then Kahlig driving for the solo slam dunk when out of nowhere, Ty Bergfield tackled Kahlig from behind into the padded wall. Bergfield was whistled a technical, but not ejected from the game. The boo-birds sounded.
Kahlig dropped both free throws to cut the lead 33-25 with 7:02 remaining.
St. John’s maintained a 10 to 12 point lead most of the way. Their biggest margin was 46-30 with 3:26 left on a pair of Wes Ulm free throws. Ulm converted 6-of-6 free throws as did Webb. In fact, the Blue Jays canned 23-of-26 free throws in the final stanza.
The closest Fort Recovery would get was 56-49 with :55 seconds on the clock on a three-point-play by Kahlig.
“We told the guys coming into this game, we didn’t want to have to rely on someone else doing our work,” remarked Patch about winning a MAC title. “Now, we are part of that situation. We need help.”
He concluded, “The kids know how this loss feels. They know it stinks. They can fold, buckle, be ticked off, or not let this happen again from here on out. The 20-game season has a reason. To prepare us for the tournament. We can win or lose a conference game, but the tournament is different.”
St. John’s extends its winning streak to 10 games and in the process, snapped Fort Recovery’s 11-game win streak. More important, the Blue Jays own sole possession of first place in the mighty MAC standings.
Coach Elwer said, “This was a big step. A big win. We were patient offensively and our 2-3 zone defense was outstanding. We were alert where Kahlig was and contested the other players.”
He concluded, “We still have two tough games next week, but we are definitely peaking at the right time.”
Nate Webb led all scorers with 22 points. He made 6-of-9 from the field, 4-of-5 from threes and 6-of-6 from the line. Scott Recker added 17 points and Justin Backus grabbed 10 rebounds and scored nine points for the victors.
Kahlig paced the Indians with 18 points. Cody Fiely added 16 and Craig Tobe contributed 13 points.
Both teams combined for 13 three-pointers, seven by Recovery and six by Delphos.
Coldwater drops out of the four team race after losing to Marion Local 51-27. And so, the MAC battle for the title shows three teams standing. Delphos St. John’s heads the pack at 7-0 with two games remaining. The Blue Jays play New Bremen tonight and Coldwater Friday.
Fort Recovery is second at 7-1 and plays New Bremen Friday. New Bremen has the toughest road at 5-2 with games against St. John’s tonight and Fort Recovery Friday.
Girls Division IV Sectionals
Call it the calm before the storm. The 29th Girls Division IV Sectionals at Sidney High School Saturday afternoon and evening commenced without a glitch as all the higher seeds advanced.
The five-pack featured three blow outs, one overtime, and a disappointing end to a brilliant career for one senior.
Russia 61 Mechanicsburg 22
The Lady Raiders led 29-11 at half and pushed the pedal to the metal in the second half for a convincing 39-point win. Eleven Russia players made the box score. The only person not scoring was the ball girl. Erica Goubeaux and Katie Borchers each scored nine points and Brooke Gariety added eight points.
The only player in double figures was Mary Bline of Mechanicsburg with 10 points.
Russia improves to 8-12 and earns the right to play (14-6) Troy Christian Tuesday at 6:00 pm. The Indians finish 9-12.
Triad 64 Lehman 56
The Lady Cardinals led 21-12 after one quarter and 31-22 at the break and looked in complete control, but the Lady Cavs stormed back with a 17-9 run to slice the lead 40-39 after three quarters.
Game On. Brooke Vanover bombed a three and Lehman forged ahead for the first time 43-42 with 6:41 left in the game. But as long as it took Lehman to recover, that quickly, Triad rebuilt the lead 54-45 with 2:36 remaining and preserved the win.
The story line of this game, though, was the rise of Triad sophomore Kelsey Funderbaugh and the fall of Lehman senior Brooke Vanover.
Funderbaugh scored 29 points with a variety of long-range set shots, foul shots, and slashing drives to the hoop. The 5′ 7″ point guard is well on her way to scoring 1,000 points for her career.
Likewise, Vanover scored 29 points in similiar fashion with equal determination, knowing this could be the end of her storied career. And it was. The 5′ 10″ guard/forward learned a tough lesson. Life isn’t always fair. Vanover ended with 933 career points. Blame it on Mother Nature because the Lady Cavaliers had two games postponed recently.
According to Lehman coach Mark Lindenauer, the games will not be rescheduled. One well-known area coach made the comment, “I would find two games to play.”
Hannah Smith scored 19 points for Triad and Lindsey Spearman added 10 points for Lehman.
The (16-5) Cardinals will play Jackson Center, always a dangerous tournament team, Wednesday at 7:30 pm.
Houston 66 Springfield Catholic Central 36
The elite duet of Jaclyn Willoughby and Danielle Monnier combined for 51 of
Houston’s 66 points in an easy win.
Willoughby pushed the tempo with drives to the rack and Monnier played the role of garbage collector, scoring off of misses. And both bombed occasional threes to stretch the Irish defense like a rubberband. Willoughby finished with a game high 26 points and Monnier added 25 points.
“Both Jaclyn and Danielle pushed the ball up the floor nicely for us. I thought they did a good job of making the right choices,” Houston coach Greg Ward said. “When we remain patient in our half court offense, make good decisions in transition, we are a dangerous team.”
He continued, “Sometimes we get anxious and that gets us in trouble. Sometimes we settle for bad shots. We need to make that extra pass or reversal to get the kind of shot that is good. We do that on a consistent basis, our offense is pretty good.”
Coach Ward concluded, “Overall, I love the fact that we took care of business and everybody got some playing time.”
The Lady Wildcats have won nine of 11 games and improve to 15-6 as their playoff drive continues. Houston will be tested against Riverside Wednesday at 6:00 pm. The Wildcats defeated Riverside 61-47 the third game of the season.
The Lady Pirates are led by 5′ 11″ senior Amelia Carter, Cincinnati-bound for track & field, and just 11 points shy of 1,000.
Coach Ward commented, “Carter is a force of nature. A strong player who dead-lifts about 500 pounds. Haven’t decided, yet, who will guard her. We will probably switch it up so nobody gets in foul trouble.”
Jackson Center 56 Botkins 52 (OT)
This was the best game of the day.
Botkins lead 46-44, holding the ball with 1:02 left in regulation when Kristen Winemiller stole the ball and drove it the length of the floor for the tying basket to send the game into overtime.
And then, Jackson Center’s Heather Develvis drained two clutch free throws with :28 seconds left to aid and abet the victory.
Jackson Center coach Gregg Gooding, the Dean of SCL girls coaches with 195 wins and one state title said, “Heather missed one earlier. To go up there with the game on the line and stick’em both. That was clutch.”
It was a see-saw battle. JC led 17-12 after the first quarter. Botkins charged ahead 24-21 at the half. The Lady Tigers recaptured the third quarter lead 38-36. And the score at the end of regulation was knotted at 46-46.
Taylor Cummons sparked the Tiger Attack with 21 points and Winemiller and Mackenzie May each totaled eight points.
The Lady Trojans landed four players in double figures. Jenna Schmerge paved the way with 13 points. Amanda Koch and Kristen George each tallied 11 points and Christine Johnson contributed 10 points.
They say players are a reflection of their coach. It was clearly evident this game, both physically and mentally. Like their coach, JC was outsized, but played with supersized hearts.
Gooding explained, “We are undersized. We have to play hard. We gotta put pressure on the other team. They’re not a reflection of me. They’re not crazy enough like me. But they do play with a lot of emotion. Sometimes they feed off the emotion we give them.”
A team with only three wins last season, the Lady Tigers improve to 11-9 and live to play another day. JC will face Triad Wednesday at 7:30 pm.
Coach Gooding explained the turn-around from last season, “I’d say May and Sowders have developed as leaders. Last year we played a lot of sophomores. Now we have a year of experience and a year of strength. Getting a few wins at the beginning of the season helped. And with that, the hunger. When we lose now, it hurts.”
For Botkins, it was an excruciatingly tough loss. The Lady Trojans end the season 4-16.
Fort Loramie 70 Fairlawn 34
The top seeded Lady Redskins played like a lower seed for about six minutes, only leading 10-6. But then Fort Loramie unleashed a fast and furious 41-14 run for an insurmountable 51-20 advantage during the third quarter. Impressed with the performance, Loramie coach Carla Siegel had seen enough and cleared the bench.
“The first half was my fault. Call it bad coaching,” Siegel confessed. “We started pressing early on and it wasn’t working. Their guards were too quick and fast. I should have adjusted sooner. We talked about it at half and just did our half-court trapping.”
Even prolific coaches make mistakes, sometimes. In her 11th season, Carla Siegel is three wins away from her sixth, 20-win season and one shy of 200 victories. Her 2006 squad lost to Berlin Hiland 49-47 in the state semi-finals.
This 2009-2010 edition isn’t satisfied with league titles and district championships. They want more.
Siegel said, “This group is hungry. They got a taste of it the past two years in the regionals. They want more. I told them it’s not going to be easy. Teams that want to go far in the tournament can’t make silly mistakes like we did tonight. Good teams don’t turn the ball over 24 times.”
Junior Clair Ruhenkamp paced Loramie with 17 points and 15 rebounds, along with six steals. Heady point guard Janel Olberding added 13 points with four steals and five assists. Brooke Turner tallied eight points.
Loramie offset their 24 turnovers with 24 steals.
Jasmine Frederick led the Lady Jets with 13 points and Haley Slonkosky chipped in nine points.
The long and winding road to the Final Four continues for Loramie Tuesday when they meet Bradford at 7:30 pm.
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