Taking control

NEW KNOXVILLE - Thursday's big Midwest Athletic Conference girls basketball battle lived up to the hype as far as defense was concerned.

It was defense that sparked Minster over the the final three quarters after falling behind early and then coming back in the second half for a 38-29 victory over New Knoxville at Ranger Gymnasium in a battle of state-ranked teams. The win moves the Wildcats to 10-1 and 5-0 in MAC play.

After being held to nine points in the first quarter, Minster managed to tie the game at the half and then kept up its defensive pressure to take the lead early in the third and never looked back.

"We came out in the second half tied 15-15 and we said 'Let's win the third quarter,' " said Minster coach Mike Wiss. "We came off the floor (at the end of the quarter) and we were up four. We then said 'Win the fourth quarter.' There was a little more fight to us."

The Rangers (10-2) caught the Wildcat defense off-kilter early with some great backdoor passes leading to easy layups to take a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

"That was a big deal," Wiss said about stopping the easy buckets. "After the first quarter, (New Knoxville) didn't get any backdoors. I'm not sure, but I don't think we gave them many offensive rebounds in the second half."

Ivy Wolf got the rally started for Minster with a bucket 34 seconds into the second quarter to cut the margin to two. New Knoxville struggled, either turning the ball over or missing shots on six straight possessions, allowing Janae Hoying to tie the game at 13-all with 2:47 remaining in the half. Ellie Gabel quickly gave the Rangers the lead again, but Ella Mescher's bucket with two minutes remaining knotted the game again.

"Our defense was good enough. We just got to get tougher on offense," said Rangers coach Tim Hegemier. "Give Minster credit, they put the pressure on us in man-to-man."

Hoying quickly gave the Wildcats their first lead 31 seconds into the second half with the first 3-pointer made by either team on the night. Avery Henschen followed with a deuce to get New Knoxville back to within one, but Hoying launched another trey with 3:56 remaining in the quarter. Brynn Oldiges and Wolf followed with buckets to raise the Wildcat lead to 25-17, but Carsyn Henschen knocked down a trey and later added a free throw to get the Rangers to within four at 25-21 after three.

Wolf got the fourth quarter going with her first trey of the night. Dana Prenger followed with a 2-pointer to make it a nine-point game. The Wildcats briefly raised the lead to 11 midway through the quarter before the Rangers trimmed it down one last time.

"We wanted our shot chart," said Wiss. "In the first half, New Knoxville's shot chart was dark in the paint (meaning made baskets). We weren't getting many bounces off the rim, but out shots were 15 feet out further. We had to utilize our post play a bit, make a few extra passes and make (New Knoxville) play a little more defense."

"You give Minster a 7-8 point lead and you're in trouble," said Hegemier.

Wolf finished with 13 to lead Minster. Hoying added 10.

Leffel finished with nine to lead the Rangers.

Minster spends the weekend in Holmes County in taking part in the annual Classic in the Country showcase at Berlin Hiland. The Wildcats take on Akron Hoban at 4 p.m. on Saturday before wrapping up their trip with a noon game on Sunday against Margaretta.

New Knoxville travels to Houston on Saturday and picked up a game on Tuesday at Lima Senior.