Redskins down Jets

ST. HENRY - On Jan. 4, St. Henry girls basketball coaches Kyle and Bill Menchhofer took a detour to Red Lobster in Piqua on their way to scout Franklin Monroe.

A win over the Jets tasted a little better than that meal.

"Even though it was a free meal, a win's always better than a free meal. I don't care how expensive it was," said Kyle, St. Henry's head coach.

His dad, Bill, bought the meal. The team got their coaches the victory.

Alyssa Buschur scored 20 points and Addy Vaughn netted 19 as St. Henry dealt Franklin Monroe just its second loss with a 52-34 rout at Redskin Gymnasium.

The Redskins improved to 9-5 this season. The Jets fell to 11-2 as their eight-game winning streak was snapped.

"It's good to beat Franklin Monroe with the record they have. They got beat by Tri-Village (ranked No. 6 in Division IV), and we were close with Tri-Village," Menchhofer said. "It's coming. The girls are starting to believe in what we're preaching to them. They're starting to talk to us about things that they see out on the floor, so the communication is becoming better than it was at the beginning of the year. I'm excited with where we're at, but I know we've got a long way to go because the next few weeks are brutal before the tournament."

St. Henry held a nine-point lead at one point in the first quarter before settling for a 15-8 advantage. The Redskins got that lead by shooting a sizzling 7-of-13 from the field and holding the Jets to a frosty 3-of-14. Addy Vaughn scored seven in the frame to lead St. Henry.

Ashley Ontrop led the way in the second quarter, though.

The 6-foot sophomore scored all eight of her points by halftime - which included six in the second quarter - to go along with her five rebounds. The Redskins' largest lead was 14 and they took a 25-13 margin into halftime. The Jets finished one half 4-of-26 shooting overall and 1-of-15 from deep.

"We were able to find a mismatch and attack the mismatch," Menchhofer said. "Sometimes that's hard to do, but our girls did a good job of talking to me, saying 'I have an advantage here.' So I went with who had the hot hand. Ashley Ontrop came off the bench and did a whale of a job when Addy got in foul trouble, and we need that."

Corina Conley, who finished with a game-high 22, made exactly four field goals in the third quarter on her way to 12 of Franklin Monroe's 14 points. But her effort was combatted by Addy Vaughn's eight points. St. Henry's lead was cut to seven at one point, then grew to 15 and sat at 13 by quarter's end.

No comeback happened in the fourth, either.

Buschur poured in nine points on 4-of-5 shooting as St. Henry stretched its lead to 21 with 3 minutes remaining. Franklin Monroe finished 11-of-58 from the field and 3-of-31 from deep.

Buschur and Nora Vaughn each had 10 rebounds for St. Henry.

"At the end of the game, Alyssa took over. I'm starting to see more of that out of her. That senior leadership and experience," Menchhofer said. "I'm pleased with the direction that we're going. But hey, we've got a tough one on Thursday (at home against state-ranked Versailles)."