Bulldogs, Roughriders advance

SPENCERVILLE - The roller coaster known as the opening game of girls basketball sectional play had two happy riders in Celina and St. Marys by the end of the night.

Celina led early against Napoleon and saw the Wildcats get a lead early in the fourth quarter before coming back for a 41-37 win in the opening game of Tuesday's Division II doubleheader at Spencerville High School.

In the nightcap, the Roughriders trailed Shawnee by five midway through the third quarter but they turned up the defense and offense to beat the Indians 69-58.

Both teams return to Spencerville on Saturday for sectional championship games. Celina takes on Wauseon at 6:15 p.m. and St. Marys will face Auglaize County rival Wapakoneta around 8 p.m.
Celina 41, Napoleon 37

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, but Celina coach Toma Hainline knew that Napoleon had the ability to come back, which the Wildcats did, cutting the deficit to 18-11 at the end of the first quarter and 26-20 at halftime.

"We thought they would make runs," Hainline said. "We watched them last week and knew they wouldn't give up. We talked about that at halftime. We went out with the idea (that the game was) 0-0."

The Wildcats kept whittling the Celina lead as Kayla Gerken, held to just two points in the first half, caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 11 points, including a three-pointer with 1:14 left in the period, to tie the game at 33-all going into the fourth quarter.

Carlie Kruse gave Napoleon its first lead of the game seconds into the final period at 35-33. After a Haley McGillvary free throw, Bethany Blackwood made it 37-34 with 3:40 left in regulation.

Celina came back as Trish Dennis, who was able to get behind the Wildcat defense for some easy buckets early in the game, added another bunny shot to make it 37-36. After Blackwood missed a free throw with 2:04 left, Celina came down and worked its offense to try and find an open shot. The first try missed, but Jenna Berry got the rebound and put it back in with 1:40 left to put Celina up 38-37. After each team used a timeout, Napoleon threw the ball away for a turnover with 73 seconds left and had to foul several times to put Celina into the bonus. Heather Heiby calmly made two free throws with 45.5 seconds left to make it a three-point game. Gerken tried a three-pointer but the shot fell short. McGillvary was fouled and went to the line for a chance to seal the win, but missed the front end of the one-and-bonus. Lexi Woods' three-point try missed and then Mackenzie Moorman rebounded, was fouled and put one free throw in to close the game.

"We made an adjustment and went to a zone after (Napoleon) went on a run," Hainline said. "We adjusted well in the zone and boxed out in the zone. That threw (the Wildcats) off their pace."

Dennis led Celina with 12 points. Heiby added 11 points.

Taylor Rieger led Napoleon with 14 points but was scoreless in the second half. Gerken finished with 13 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.

"Now we play Wauseon, which is good because we don't know them," Hainline said. "That gives us a good frame of mind going into the game."
St. Marys 69, Shawnee 58

Both teams were missing star post players as Shawnee was without Mayrssa Herschler (ankle) and St. Marys was competing without leading scorer Shania Taylor (torn ACL).

The Indians gained a slight 29-27 halftime advantage on Rachel Evans' three-pointer just before the buzzer. After trading the lead with the Roughriders in the opening two minutes of the third quarter, Shawnee began to drive to the hoop and draw fouls. The Indians made their free throws to take a 44-39 lead with 2:14 left in the quarter.

That's when Erika Angstmann caught fire. The junior scored six of the final eight points of the quarter, including the go-ahead basket with 28 seconds left, to put St. Marys into the lead at 47-44. Angstmann stayed hot to start the fourth quarter, scoring five straight to make it 52-46 with 6:12 left to play.

"We picked up our defense a little bit (and) put on a little pressure," Roughriders coach Nikki Miars said. "I think we just came out and played as a team. Everybody did their job tonight."

"I think we just played horrible defense down the stretch," Shawnee coach Jeff Heistan said. "They did a great job getting it to their post (players). They were in position to get the basketball. We didn't defend."

Shawnee burned its final three timeouts in a six-minute span in the final quarter to try and cool off the Roughriders. Even putting St. Marys at the foul line didn't help as the Roughriders went 10-of-12 from the line in the fourth quarter, including making six of their final seven attempts.

"It's a big win for us," said Miars of the program, which last won a tournament game in the 2010-11 season. "We're going to enjoy this win. We have Wapak on Saturday. That's going to be a challenge for us. It's a challenge we're ready for."

Angstmann finished the night shooting 11-of-14 from the field en route to a 26-point, 11-rebound effort. Without Taylor, who averaged 14.8 points and 10.5 rebounds this season, others stepped up to contribute. Quincy Rable was 10-of-10 from the foul line to finish with 18 points and nine rebounds. Lindi Cisco scored 13 points with Sydney Cisco adding 10.

"One person is not going to make those numbers up," Miars said of Taylor's stats. "Everybody did a good job of stepping up and doing their part."

Evans led Shawnee with 17 points. Alissa Stahler scored 15.