Bouncing back

ST. MARYS - When the offense had its struggles, the St. Marys defense rose to the occasion.

After Delphos St. John's cut a 31-18 halftime deficit to six at 31-25 90 seconds into the second half, the Roughriders responded by holding the Blue Jays to just 10 points the remainder of the contest in picking up a 55-35 win in non-conference girls basketball action at Grand Lake Health System Court.

The win was the perfect rebound after a tough 53-35 loss to New Knoxville on Saturday. The Roughriders (3-1) forced 20 turnovers in the contest.

"I was real proud of our defense tonight," said St. Marys coach Jon Burke. "I don't thing there was anything we could have done against Paige (Gaynier, the Blue Jays' 1,000-point scorer). She's a heckuva ballplayer who can shoot, who can drive and pull up off the dribble. We were trying to slow her down and contain her as much as possible. … They executed well tonight."

Abby Buettner tied the game at 4-all for the Blue Jays (2-2) early in the first quarter, only for St. Marys to quickly get the lead back up 8-4 on buckets by Cora Rable and Noelle Ruane. Gaynier got the hoop-and-harm 3-point play to go to get her team to within one, but Haley Felver came off the bench for a big bucket to help St. Marys take a 20-15 lead after one.

The defense started to crank up in the second quarter in holding St. John's to just three points as Karsyn McGlothen came off the bench for four big points and Ruane, Rable and Felver added field goals to help St. Marys go into the half with a 31-18 lead.

St. John's got out to a hot start to begin the third quarter. Gaynier scored the opening bucket followed by a old-fashioned 3-point play and then Melanie Koenig added a bucket for a 7-0 run to cut the St. Marys lead to 31-25 with 6:32 remaining in the quarter. St. Marys applied the pressure once again, and neither team scored for 3 1/2 minutes before Kiley Tennant ended the spell with a bucket to put the Roughriders back up by nine.

The Blue Jays managed another trey from Gaynier and free throws from Koenig the rest of the quarter as St. Marys went into the final period with a 39-30 lead.

The fourth quarter was all defense for St. Marys as the Blue Jays did not score until Rylee Pohlman knocked down a trey with 1:39 left in the game. By that time, St. Marys was leading 51-33 and cruising to the finish.

"The shots haven't always been dropping," said Burke. "We were finding good shots and having good set shots. We got the ball inside. When our posts combine for 17 points (Felver and McGlothen) we're going to win those games."

Ruane paced St. Marys with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Felver added 11 points.

Gaynier finished with a game-high 17 for the Blue Jays.

St. Marys finally opens Western Buckeye League play on Thursday as the Roughriders host Auglaize County neighbor Wapakoneta. St. John's heads to Fort Recovery on Thursday to face the Indians in Midwest Athletic Conference play.