Minster outlasts Marion Local for 36-35 win

MINSTER - Minster coach Nann Stechschulte was admittiedly dissatisfied with some of the things her team did in Thursday's game against Marion Local.

But hey, a win's a win as the Wildcats posted a 36-35 victory against another quality Midwest Athletic Conference opponent and remained unbeaten.

"They beat us to all the loose balls, at least that's how I saw it," Stechschulte commented. "They got way too many offensive rebounds and we missed a whole lot of little shots. We shot 27 percent. If we can do that and still win a game in this league, then so be it. But there's a lot of things that we need to fix."

It was a defensive-grinder that was close throughout, but Minster had the answers each time Marion Local made a run. The Flyers, trailing 22-19 at half, made a run to cut the lead to 24-23 early in the third. In typical fashion, the Wildcats made a run and upped their advantage to 29-23, thanks to a three-pointer by LeAnn Huelsman and a bucket by Lindsey Roetgerman, made possible by a Rosie Westerbeck steal and assist.

The Wildcats led 32-29 entering the fourth and once again, the Flyers cut the lead back to one, 32-31. Marion had a chance to tie or take the lead but missed on the front end of a one-and-one. And once again, Minster answered with a Roetgerman jumper and then later dribbled over a minute off the clock before Alli Fischer was fouled. Fischer connected on two free throws to give Minster a 36-31 lead with under a minute to play.

The Flyers maintained hope and hit two free throws to make the score 36-33. They had a chance to tie after collecting a rebound off a missed free throw. However, the possession was botched once they crossed half-court and Emily Mescher ended up settling for a layup at the buzzer.

"Obviously they have to know they need a 3 with that amount of time left," Marion Local coach Beth Streib said. "We had it set up for a couple different options. I told them Minster hit the key shots when they needed to and we didn't. That's basically what it came down to and that's what a good team does."

Four lead changes and three ties came in the first quarter, which ended with the Flyers' Sara Fesenmyer hitting a layup to put them up 8-6. It was a sign of things to come.

Westerbeck scored six of her eight points in the first quarter for the Wildcats, who stormed ahead by six in the second and stayed in front the rest of the ballgame.

Huelsman matched Westerbeck's team-high with eight points, Roetgerman added seven points while Hannah Schmitmeyer contributed five points and a game-high nine rebounds.   Streib was happy with the production off the bench by Fesenmyer, who netted a game-best 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Mescher added nine points on five shots and pulled down eight boards.

Minster (5-0, 4-0 MAC) and Fort Recovery (3-0 MAC) are the last two unbeaten teams left in the conference. The two will square off Jan. 28 in Minster. The Wildcats play on their home floor Saturday against Houston.

The Flyers, now 5-2 and 1-2 in the MAC, host Anna on Saturday.