Soaring away

CELINA - Any hope that the momentum Celina picked up in winning the OVISCO Classic semifinal on Monday was quickly swept away by the tenacious Marion Local defense.

The Flyers forced 26 turnovers and built a big enough lead to have a running clock for much of the second half in winning the 36th edition of the girls basketball tournament 56-15 on Wednesday at the Fieldhouse.

In the consolation game, Coldwater bounced back from a rough showing on Monday to defeat St. Henry 37-31 for third place.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Marion Local 56, Celina 15

Celina looked ready to stand up to the challenge of Marion at the start of the game, using pressure to hold the Flyers to just two points for the first three minutes. Kyilla Billingsley tied the game at 2-all with just over five minutes remaining in the first quarter, but when Sammy Hoelscher scored with 4:46 remaining to break the deadlock, that signaled the charge and the Flyers went on a 11-0 run to end the first quarter up 13-2.

Taylor Klingshirn ended the run 40 seconds into the second quarter with a layup, but within a three-minute span, the turnover tally quickly increased as Marion got plenty of layups and short jumpers to push the mark to 28-6 with three minutes to go. Zoey Burns hit a 3-pointer late in the quarter, but the Flyers ended up taking a 34-9 halftime lead.

"We got some easy points off our defense and had better ball movement," said Flyers coach Beth Streib. "We got some easier shots rather than settling for the outside shots like we did on Monday. We focused on getting to the bucket more."

The Flyers kept up the pressure to start the second half and on Molly Winner's bucket wth 3:57 remaining in the third quarter, the Flyers were up 46-11 and triggered the running clock with the 35-point lead. Marion toned down the pressure, but still outscored Celina 22-6 in the second half.

"We were working on quicker cuts and curl cuts. I thought the girls did a better job cutting and passing," said Streib.

Hoelscher was 10-of-14 from the floor to finish the game with a game-high 21 points. That, along with her 16 points in the win over Coldwater, made her the easy choice for Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.

Lindsey Koenig added 10 points to also earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

Billingsley scored six of Celina's 15 points. Klingshirn finished with four and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

CONSOLATION GAME
Coldwater 37,
St. Henry 31

Both teams looked for momentum after struggling with their offenses in the semifinals. Both teams were missing key players, with Coldwater still without post player Riley Rismiller, who missed the second half of Monday's game with an injury.

St. Henry led 7-5 after the first quarter, but Coldwater's Jenna Leugers tied the game at 7-all 26 seconds into the second with Claire Steinke breaking the tie with a free throw 30 seconds later. The points were part of a 9-0 run by the Cavaliers that gave them a 16-7 lead before Mya Ontrop broke the run with a bucket. Coldwater took a 20-12 halftime lead at the break.

St. Henry went toe-to-toe with Coldwater in the second half to try and keep within a couple of possessions of the lead. Coldwater briefly reached a double-digit lead with six minutes to go in regulation at 33-22, but Ontrop helped the Redskins to get as close as 35-30 with 51 seconds remaining. Becca Wenning knocked down a pair of free throws with 47.4 seconds remaining to make it a 37-30 game and St. Henry managed just one more point down the stretch.

Leugers led Coldwater with 12 points to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team. Wenning finished with 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.

Ontrop earned the sixth and final spot on the All-Tournament team thanks to a 13-point effort on 6-of-8 shooting. Lauren Beyke added 10 points.

NEXT UP

Celina and Marion will meet again in their usual regular season meeting on Tuesday at the Hangar in Maria Stein.

Coldwater and St. Henry will face each other in Midwest Athletic Conference play on Jan. 6 at St. Henry.