Hungry like a Wolf

MINSTER - There's no other way to say it: Ivy Wolf was on fire Thursday night.

But it wasn't until after the third quarter that she realized how blazing hot she was.

The Minster junior set the school record for points in a game with 36 in three quarters as the Wildcats' tenaciousness defense wreaked havoc on New Bremen to the tune of a 66-27 rout in Midwest Athletic Conference girls basketball play at Wildcat Gymnasium.

When she made a free throw with 10 seconds left in the third quarter, Ivy Wolf broke the old record of 35 set by another Wildcat standout - Lauren Shenk - that was set during the 1994-1995 season.

Ivy was unaware that she had broken the record.

"I just heard everyone on the bench going crazy," said Ivy Wolf, who was 14-of-18 from the floor, 4-of-5 from the 3-point line and made all four of her free throws. "I wish I was old enough to have grown up watching her play. She's obviously a legend here at Minster. I broke her record tonight, but I don't think I'll ever be the player she is."

The points, not only by Ivy Wolf but by Averi Wolf and Janae Hoying, came at a fast pace in the opening quarter, thanks in large part to the pestering pressure defense by Hoying, the Wolfs and Mara Schmiesing. Midway through the first quarter, Minster was up 13-2 and by the end of the quarter, the Wildcats were up 30-2 after shooting 11-of-16. Ivy Wolf had 14 points, Averi Wolf and Hoying each had eight.  

"Our guards were on fire in the first half," said Minster coach Mike Wiss. "I keep telling them we're getting better. We just shot the ball well tonight (50% for the game), but we also rebounded well. Plus we played defense pretty darn well. We had 10 steals in the first quarter."

"We knew they were going to pressure. They do a great job of reading (the pass). When you turn your back, one of them is coming to get a hand on the ball," said New Bremen coach Chris Burden, whose squad turned over the ball 24 times in the game. "They're right there."

The Cardinals relied on Elli Roetgerman for points in the first half. The Cardinal junior scored the first 11 points for New Bremen in the game and had 13 of the team's 14 points at halftime. Minster led 43-14.

The Wildcats kept making shots in the third quarter. Ivy Wolf made her first four field goals, hit two free throws and added another bucket to get to 34 points. She was then fouled with 10 seconds left, swishing the first free throw to tie Shenk and then making the second to break the record. She tried one shot early in the fourth quarter - getting a rare miss - before Wiss subbed her out to a standing ovation.

"She's a pretty good ballplayer," said Wiss. "She is all the time, but she really was tonight. Last year we lost seven seniors that were part of two (state) titles. They were our leaders. Ivy knew this was her year (to be more of an all-around leader). That's something she needs to continue with the vocal leadership role."

Burden could only tip the proverbial cap to the Minster junior.

"When you have good players like that, sometimes (big games) happen," said Burden. "You don't want it to happen against you. Tonight it happened to us. She's pretty good."

Averi Wolf finished with 15 points while Hoying added 10.

Roetgerman finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals.

Minster (13-3, 4-2 MAC) travels to Anna on Saturday. New Bremen (9-7, 2-4 MAC) hosts Delphos St. John' next Thursday.