Local Sports
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Jackets fight off MohawksSports writer
A furious fourth-quarter rally by St. Wendelin's girls basketball team fell tantalizingly short and visiting New Riegel held on for a 54-48 victory in the Midland Athletic League opener for both teams.
The Mohawks (1-1 overall) were down 39-21 at the end of the third quarter, but rallied to score 27 points in the fourth. St. Wendelin pulled within five points, but New Riegel's free-throw shooting kept it in front as veterans Paula Kelbley and Taylor Mathias were 6-of-6 and 5-of-6, respectively, from the line in the fourth quarter.
"It's nice to have veterans step it up at the line -- seniors that have been in these battles before many, many times," Blue Jackets coach Steve Lucius said. "We'll go to the line. If we can't get the shots off, we'll go to the line. I have confidence in our kids at the line."
"I told them the fourth quarter, in my opinion, might have been the best quarter I've seen a St. Wendelin team play as far as pure heart." Mohawks coach Aaron Smith said. "They sold out, they went after it, they did everything they could do to get back into that game."
Senior Cookie Geroski ignited the rally for the Mohawks, scoring 13 of her 27 points in the fourth. Senior Katelyn Schiefer scored six, while a pair of newcomers to the varsity squad, juniors Alisha Weis and Ellie Riser, added four and two points, respectively
"Everyone played a role in the fourth quarter," Geroski said. "They had the heart and that's all we needed.
"A couple of girls were kind of scared because this is their first like, real varsity, big-time game. But they really steppd it up tonight and I'm really proud of them."
The Mohawks jumped out to a 7-2 lead early in the first quarter, but got into foul trouble and allowed New Riegel to set the tone of the game. The Blue Jackets took full advantage, putting together a 15-0 run while St. Wendelin absorbed foul after foul. The Mohawks committed nine fouls in the first quarter and took their 10th less than a minute into the second.
"We spent all week saying, 'We do not want to foul the first quarter,'" Smith said. "All week we worked on it. Even if they get a little lead, we want to not be in foul trouble the first quarter so we can play our style of basketball the rest of the game. We get NINE fouls or something the first quarter."
If the story of St. Wendelin's first quarter was fouls, the story of the third was cold shooting. St. Wendelin hit just one of 10 attempts and scored a mere four points on a field goal by Geroski and a pair of free throws by senior Clare Berry. Meanwhile New Riegel opened up an 18-point lead with a 3-pointer from Jami Wagner and 2-point field goals from Mathias, Kelbley and Stacey Wank.
"It was a sellout at 19," Smith said. "It was just, 'Hey, let's save some face.' I never dreamed we'd have the ball down four or five with a chance to win this thing. Cookie was completely exhausted. I couldn't get her out of the game.
"It comes down to free throws. I don't know how bad we were, but if we hit our free throws, we win this game."
St. Wendelin made just 11 of 22 free throws on the night, including 4 of 7 in the final period.
Mathias led the Blue Jackets with 17 points and added three rebounds. Kelbley had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. Wank led the Blue Jackets with 16 rebounds.
Geroski was the only St. Wendelin player in double figures, although Schiefer finished with eight points. Senior Cassi Papenfus led the Mohawks with seven rebounds.
New Riegel won the junior varsity game 44-36. Abby Cassidy led the Blue Jackets with 19 points, while Brooke Scherger had 13. Colleen Fondessy had 11 for the Mohawks.
New Riegel (54)
Wagner 1-5--8, Metzger 0-0--0, B. Scherger 0-0--0, A. Wank 0-1--1, Mathias 6-5--17, Kelbley 3-10--16, Hanna 1-1--3, S. Wank 2-3--7, Ladd 1-0--2. TOTALS: 14-38 25-35 -- 54.
st. wendelin (48)
Papenfus 1-0--2, Weis 1-2--4, Gase 0-0--0, Geroski 9-7--27, Rutter 0-0--0, Riser 2-0--5, St. Clair 0-0--0, Fondessy 0-0--0, Berry 0-2--2, Schiefer 4-0--8. TOTALS: 17-59 11-22 -- 48.
New Riegel 16 10 13 15 -- 54
St. Wendelin 8 9 4 27 -- 48
3-Point GOALS: New Riegel 1-6 (Wagner); St. Wendelin 3-17 (Geroski 2, Riser).
rebounds: New Riegel 41 (S. Wank 16); St. Wendelin 26 (Papenfus 7).
turnovers: New Riegel 21; St. Wendelin 13.
junior varsity: New Riegel, 44-36.
All contents © 1996 - 2008
Fostoria Review Times
Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
VIDEO