Flyers fall short against Bearcats

VAN WERT - Marion Local was handed its worst loss of the season at Spencerville on Feb. 6.

The Flyers responded with one of their best defensive efforts of the year against those same Bearcats in the Division III sectional final in Van Wert.

It still wasn't enough to defeat state-ranked Spencerville, which ran its record to 17-4 with a 51-43 victory in a Saturday matinee matchup at the Cougar Den.

Jacob Meyer's corner three-pointer with 3:10 remaining gave the Bearcats the breathing room they needed and then they iced the game at the foul line in the final minutes.

Marion Local led 20-18 at halftime and then the teams traded blows in the second half. The Bearcats took their first lead of the day, 26-25, on a pair of free throws by Dakota Prichard with 5:08 left in the third quarter. Prichard's tosses were part of a 9-0 run that padded Spencerville's lead to 31-25. Back came the Flyers with a 5-0 run. Tyler Mescher scored inside and Matt Kahlig added his second triple of the quarter to trim the damage to one. Mason Nourse and Derek Albers later traded three-pointers to end the quarter, leaving the Bearcats in front 34-33.

The Flyers led 37-34 a minute into the fourth quarter following a bucket by Kahlig in traffic and a steal and layup by Kyle Homan. Marion was ice cold shooting from there on out.

Zach Goecke scored on two consecutive possessions and Spencerville charged ahead again at 38-37. Goecke set up Meyer's back-breaking shot, too. He drove down the middle and had his shot attempt deflected off the glass. Goecke collected his miss and found a wide-open Meyer in the corner for the trey to put Spencerville ahead 43-39.

"Overall, I can't ask for any more effort than what we gave," Marion Local coach Kurt Goettemoeller said. "I think we had a good game plan. I think we executed for three quarters, and then in the fourth quarter I think we just lost our legs and we couldn't score."

Spencerville went 8-of-11 at the foul line in the final quarter and finished 12-of-17 overall. Marion Local did not attempt a foul shot in the game.

"We held a very good offensive team down. Fifty-one points was enough for us to win, but we needed to find a way to put a few more in the hole. Obviously the difference at the foul line is big too. We didn't get to the free throw line at all - not one time - and they made their free throws."

"Our guys hung in there and made the plays when we needed them," Spencerville coach Kevin Sensabaugh said. "Defensively I thought we were really good today. I thought Bailey Croft was just outstanding. He kind of dominated the game on both ends of the floor."

Croft was one of three Bearcats in double figures with 12 points and added seven rebounds. Goecke and Prichard shared team-high scoring honors with 14 each.

Albers scored eight points in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 16 points. Cole Griesdorn scored nine, Kahlig and Tyler Mescher added eight apiece for Marion.

The Flyers had suffered a 79-50 road loss to Spencerville in the previous meeting. Marion's game plan this time around was to prevent Spencerville from getting out in transition and eliminating easy baskets, Goettemoeller said.

"The baseline out-of-bounds plays, we didn't give up one (basket)," Goettemoeller said. "The offensive rebounding, the transition, those were all huge factors and we eliminated all of that. That was the reason we were able to hold them to 50. That was enough to win the game defensively. We did enough. It just came down to the fact that we got tired legs in the fourth quarter and we just didn't make the shots we were making in the first three quarters. You've also got to give Spencerville credit. They're a veteran team and they've been through this before. They made the plays in the end."

The win sends Spencerville into the Lima Senior district where it will face Wayne Trace, a 67-58 winner over Delphos Jefferson in Saturday's opener.

Marion Local ends the season with a record of 11-12.