Wednesday, November 24th, 2021

Wildcats get past Bulldogs

By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Amanda Wilson/The Daily Standard

Celina's Kira Dirksen (42) is guarded close by Minster's Katie McClurg during Tuesday's girls basketball game at the Fieldhouse.

CELINA - Celina had its shot to get close to Minster early in the third quarter, but the Wildcats found that extra gear to pull away.
The Wildcats went on a 22-5 run to end the third quarter and handed the Bulldogs a loss in their season opener with a 53-36 decision at the Fieldhouse on Tuesday night. The win moves Minster to 2-1.
Unlike some of the previous meetings where Minster pulled away to dominant victories, the Wildcats got a full 32 minutes of pressure from the Bulldogs.
"There's youth there, but a lot of that youth has played," Minster coach Mike Wiss said of Celina (0-1). "That's going to continue to develop."
"We're a different team," said Celina coach Branden Rushton. "We want to be aggressive and we tell the girls to come out and throw the first punch. We think they did that. I'm proud of how they played."
Minster jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but Celina tied the game at 7- and 9-all before a Ella Mescher bucket gave Minster the lead to stay with under 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The rest of the first half was Minster trying to pull away, only for Celina to thwart it and stay two possessions away.
Katie McClurg started the third quarter with a bucket to put Minster in front 26-18, but Taylor Klingshirn followed with a 3-pointer to get Celina to within five. Kaycie Albers added a bucket to make it seven, only to have Payton Bertke respond with a score to put the margin back at five with 5 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.
The tied started to turn when McClurg scored to make it 30-23. After a Celina missed basket, Mescher scored on back-to-back possessions to get the Wildcats into a double-digit lead at 34-23.
Mescher then added free throws to make it 36-23 before Amelia Lutz broke the run with two free throws of her own. But Minster answered with an 8-0 run that was halted late in the quarter on a Kyilla Billingsley 3-pointer to make it 44-28. McClurg hit a free throw with a second left to make it a 17-point Minster lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs worked hard to keep the Wildcats within shouting distance and 17 stayed the largest margin right until the end.
"We're not smooth right now, but I like the fact that we're working," said Wiss. "We're in people's faces and it's easier to slow hard work down then speed hard work up. We have the work ethic, we just have to be a little smarter on the offensive side of the floor."
"It's obviously not the result we want," said Rushton. "That's a great team (regarding Minster). They're really polished and don't make a lot of mistakes. That's where we're trying to get to."
Mescher finished with a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds for Minster. Albers had 14 and McClurg finished with 10.
Klingshirn was the only Bulldog to reach double figures with 11 points. Billingsley added nine points.
Both teams return to action in December in their conference openers. Minster plays host to Versailles while Celina welcomes St. Marys to the Fieldhouse.
Photo by Amanda Wilson/The Daily Standard

Celina's Zoey Burns (25) chases Minster's Ella Mescher down the court.

Photo by Amanda Wilson/The Daily Standard

Celina's Taylor Klingshirn takes the ball down the court as Minster's Morgan Sparks (13) defends at the Fieldhouse on Tuesday.

Additional online stories on this date
COLDWATER - District treasurer Jenn McCoy on Tuesday said with state funding still expected to remain largely flat, the district must look into other possible sources of revenue and continue finding ways to cut spending where possible. [More]
CELINA - Country stars Collin Raye, Sammy Kershaw and Aaron Tippin, along with special guest Colt Ford, will bring the Roots & Boots tour to the Mercer County Fair on Aug. 12. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
CELINA - The contract for work on the first of three phases of the Mercer Wildlife Area Project - a project enabled by a roughly $1.7 million H2Ohio grant - was awarded Tuesday to Kahlig Dozing and Excavating, Fort Recovery.
NEW BREMEN - A&M Cold Storage and Trailer Leasing has broken ground for a new facility at Bunker Hill Industrial Park in New Bremen.
The 10,000-square-foot building is going up at 715 Streine Drive, according to a news release from the business. The business expects to employ between 15-20 people.
MINSTER - Village council members at their Tuesday meeting approved a resolution to switch employee insurance coverage to a new provider after shopping around for a better deal.
WAPAKONETA - Two new deaths and 87 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Auglaize County since Thursday, according to a Tuesday Auglaize County Health Department news release.
CELINA - An Arcadia company on Tuesday was selected to undertake the Mercer County Courthouse elevator modernization project.
County commissioners,
COLDWATER - Village council members this week gave second reading of an ordinance that would redistrict the town's four wards.
Village administrato
NEW BREMEN - Village council members on Monday gave first reading of an ordinance setting a preliminary 2022 budget.
Village administrator Brent Richter didn't know the total at the time of printing or if the proposed budget would be an increase or decrease from this year's budget.
CELINA - Fanning Howey will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of its new design studio in downtown Celina.
The event is set
Mercer County's unemployment rate for October improved to 2.8%, down from September's rate of 3.1%.
However, the county dropped from its status as
VERSAILLES - On a night when Fort Recovery's offense was struggling, an early deficit proved too much to overcome.
The Indians trailed by two at the end of the first, by seven at the half and couldn't overtake Versailles in the second half on the way to a 47-39 loss at Tiger Gymnasium on Friday.
Area Roundup
Compiled By Tom Haines
The St. Henry girls basketball team couldn't overcome a slow start in a 41-26 season-opening loss to Wapakoneta at Redskin Gymnasium on Tuesday.