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Celina's Lilly Shreffler goes up for a shot against Shawnee.
COLUMBUS GROVE - While dogs are a man's best friend, Celina was Shawnee's worst nightmare as the Bulldogs used a big third quarter to win the Division III district semifinal 50-42 in Columbus Grove.
"Our girls battle," Celina coach Bret Baucher said of the win. "We're never going to be the biggest team on the court, but we got quite a bit of heart. They come out and battle every time."
The win puts Celina in its first District Final since 2013, where they will play Toledo Notre Dame Saturday at 3 p.m. in Northwood.
The start could not have been much better for Celina. Five points from Brinley Korte powered the Bulldogs to a 10-3 lead, and the team took a 14-7 lead into the second quarter. 10 Shawnee turnovers aided the Bulldogs in the quarter, but a late run kept the Indians in it.
Celina's Miley Werntz puts up a shot.
While the opening frame belonged to Celina, the second was owned by Shawnee. After Korte opened the quarter on a layup, the Indians scored the next 12 points to take a 19-16 lead. The run was led by Aryn Jackson's six points from the paint.
A put-back from Alexa Pearson stopped the run, but Celina still trailed 21-18 at the half. After scoring 14 points in the first, the Bulldogs could only muster four in the second quarter. It was reminiscent of the first meeting between the WBL foes, when Shawnee ran away in a 66-48 victory.
"The second quarter, we allowed their pressure to bother us, and we got rushed," coach Baucher said. "When you only score four points in a quarter, it's hard to do much."
Determined to not let that result happen again, Celina came out on fire in the third quarter. A three from Brooke Baucher gave the Bulldogs a 22-21 lead with 5:45 left. The run grew to 10-0 after a layup from Korte make it 28-21. They continued to dominate after baskets from Brinley and Brenna Korte pushed the lead to 32-21, and Madeline Rammel's layup made it 34-21.
Celina's Madeline Rammel (11) dribbles past Shawnee's Morgan Betts (11) and Mya Williams (3).
Shawnee got on the board after a free throw with 49 seconds left, but the damage had been done. The quarter finished with Celina ahead 34-22, and the team finished 7-of-14 from the field in the third. The Indians added nine more turnovers in the quarter to allow the Bulldogs a chance to run.
"We learned so much from that late game against Shawnee. Communication is key and we have to be able to get stops, and we didn't go a great job of that the first time," coach Baucher said. "We still had trouble stopping the dribble penetration this time, but we did a better job communicating and our younger players got better."
In what looked like teams trading quarters, Shawnee came out hot to start the fourth. An 8-0 run got the Indians back into the game and it was powered by shooting. Threes from Ava Gadson and Alexis Whetstone cut the score to 34-30. Celina finally slowed the game down with free throws from Rammel to make it a six-point game with six minutes left.
After a Bulldog miss, Gadson banked home a three from the top of the key to half the deficit, and a free-throw from Jackson looked to set up a thrilling final 4:40 with the score 36-34.
Celina's Brenna Korte goes up for a layup against Shawnee.
Brenna Korte put distance between the teams on a layup, and it began a solo run from the freshman. She scored the next four Celina points to give her team a 42-36 lead with 3:30 left. However a Jackson basket brought it back to a four-point game with under three minutes left.
The final stretch saw Celina go to the line eight times, making six of them. It showed a clear turnaround from the first half, where Celina was just 1-of-7 at the stripe. The Indians could never cut it closer than a five-point deficit, and a Rachel Rammel layup sealed the deal at the end.
"You don't win close against good teams unless you reward yourself by making the easy ones, knocking down jump shots and making free throws," coach Baucher said.
Brenna Korte led the Bulldogs with 15 points, while Brinley Korte added nine and Madeline Rammel scored eight in the effort.
Shawnee had just four players score, with Gadson's 18 points the team-high
