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St. Henry's Brayden Heath goes up to block the 3-point attempt by Celina's Gavin Wicker.
ST. HENRY - On a night where St. Henry celebrated its 1995 State Championship Football team, it was only fitting that defense led the Redskins' boys basketball effort in their 60-35 win over Celina Saturday night at Redskin gymnasium.
The game started hot for St. Henry (10-4) as threes from Max Delzeith and Jack Huelsman opened up a 6-0 lead minutes into the contest. Celina (5-11) responded through Parker Wynk and Gavin Wicker, but seven turnovers hurt the Bulldogs' effort. It was the Redskins who held a 12-11 lead at the end of the frame, as Delzeith added two more to his total in the quarter. The senior finished the game with a team-high 15 points.
"I liked (Delzeith's) activity on defense," St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck said. "He was on (Celina guard Parker Wynk) and really had to work. He's a nice ball player and whenever he gets moving like that it frees up his offense."
While St. Henry had a clean first quarter, three of its own turnovers allowed Celina to stay in the game in the second quarter. St. Henry built up a 25-18 lead with just seconds left, but Wicker's ¾ court heave banked off the glass and found the bottom of the net to make it 25-21 at the break.
That was the theme of the first half. Despite St. Henry's defense forcing 13 Celina turnovers, timely shooting kept the visitors in striking distance. Wicker had 14 of his game-high 21 at the half and had five of the seven Celina field-goals. St. Henry had seven different scorers in the first half, as Delzeith paced the team with eight points.
St. Henry's Austin Zimmerman (22) is guarded close by Celina's Caleb Schlater.
With Celina keeping pace in the first half, a 10-0 run by the Redskins opened the second half. It was kickstarted by a corner trey from Delzeith, which was followed by Charlie Werling's putback off a missed free-throw to make it 32-21 St. Henry. Tate Boeckman got into the action with a three of his own to make it a 14-point game.
"It was pretty similar to the Marion game (a 56-35 loss)," Celina coach Adam Johns said. "We played well in the first half, kept it close, and then (St. Henry) hit some shots, we turned it over, and that's a recipe for disaster."
Logan Billerman's post-spin layup ended the run, but the lead was sizable. It stopped an 0-for-5 shooting skid but there was still a long way to go for the Bulldogs. They could only get three more points in the quarter, while St. Henry got four from Huelsman himself to take a 42-26 lead into the fourth quarter.
An and-one from Wicker opened the final quarter, and it was a 13-point game with 7:27 left. That is when Keith Siefring made his mark for the Redskins. The guard did not register a point all game, but got two big steals to aid a 6-0 run. Huelsman and Werling finished off the turnovers with points. Delzeith also had a scoop-and-score himself, and the lead grew to 48-29.
"It felt great because we love Keith Siefring. He is everything St. Henry basketball is," Rosenbeck said of his guard. "If we can get him back to running how he knows how to, that gives us another weapon on defense."
Celina's Hudson Grieshop (35) is guarded by St. Henry's Tate Boeckman.
Celina, which won a defensive 45-41 game against Elida Friday night, could not get many late stops and St. Henry's lead only grew as the quarter went on. Threes from Huelsman and Boeckman made it a 56-33 game, while Landon Schwartz made a tough inside layup to make it 58-35 with under two minutes left.
All Celina could do was empty the bench unit, as the Bulldogs scored just 15 points in the second half. The Redskins' faithful inside the gym were brought to their feet as the clock ticked down, a far cry from the 60-33 defeat just one night earlier at Marion Local.
"(Celina's) good at setting screens and making contact," Rosenbeck said. "So we had to try and get over top of those and did a pretty good job at holding them to one shot."
St. Henry will look to get back on track in the MAC on Feb. 3 against New Bremen at home. Celina will hope for a better result next time out on Feb. 6 against Bath and the Fieldhouse.
