Monday, March 2nd, 2020
Wildcats win district title
By Dave Stilwell
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Minster's Ivy Wolf drives past New Knoxville's Haley Fledderjohann (2) for a basket Saturday night in the Division IV district final at Wapakoneta High School.
WAPAKONETA - Minster outlasted New Knoxville, 54-45, Saturday night in Wapakoneta to bag its fifth consecutive Division IV district title.
The eighth-ranked Wildcats now have a date with sixth-ranked Toledo Christian (21-1) in the regional semifinals Thursday with a 6:15 p.m. tip-off at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Twice the Wildcats jumped out to double-digit leads and threatened to pull away, but the Rangers refused to go quietly.
New Knoxville battled back to stay within striking distance until the Wildcats sealed the deal, going 7-for-7 at the free throw line down the stretch.
Minster coach Mike Wiss called it a "gritty win," as he got what he expected from a scrappy Ranger squad that had knocked off top-seeded Fort Recovery in the semifinals.
"I told our girls, 'don't get happy because you're not playing Fort Recovery with three 6-footers on the floor,' " Wiss said. " 'New Knoxville is going to fight. They are very well coached. They do all of the little things the right way. Nobody is going to give it to you. You have to go out and take it.' "
In a first quarter that saw four lead changes, Minster's Ivy Wolf slashed her way to the basket for nine of the Wildcats' first 13 points.
Janae Hoying picked up the slack in the second quarter, hitting deep treys on back-to-back possessions to help push the Wildcats' margin to 26-15 with 3:08 left in the half.
Wolf (25) and Hoying (16) combined for 41 of Minster's 54 points, creating quite the challenge for the Ranger defense.
"Ivy Wolf is not the MAC Player of the Year for nothing," New Knoxville coach Tim Hegemier said. "She can take it to the hole, and I thought we could have done a better job on her, but when Janae Hoying starts hitting those 3s from way out there, it kind of opens it up for Wolf."
Trailing by 10 early in the third quarter, New Knoxville's Ellie Gabel and Megan Jurosic spearheaded a 10-3 run to pull the Rangers to within a single possession, 33-30, and forced Minster to call a timeout.
The Rangers hung tough early in the fourth quarter, until Minster once again created some separation. In a span of 56 seconds, the Wildcats scored seven unanswered points without the ball ever getting to the New Knoxville end of the floor.
"We got behind and just didn't make smart decisions," Hegemier said. "We had a four-point turnaround just underneath their basket. We try to throw the ball in to Ellie. They intercept and score. We step across the end line. They score off that. We had it down to four points and then all of the sudden it was back up to eight or nine. But I've got sophomores out there and they're learning."
Minster built a 48-37 lead with 4:54 left in the game. Morgan Leffel converted an old fashioned 3-point play, and Jurosic scored on a post-up play to cut the deficit to 48-42, and force Wiss to use another timeout with 3:17 left in the game.
However, Wolf and Hoying closed out the game at the free throw line in the final minutes.
"It was a run in the second quarter that got us a lead and a run in the fourth quarter. Other than that Knoxville plays us straight up," Wiss said.
"All the girls - I'm proud of their effort. They could have laid down and died a long time ago, but they came back," added Hegemier, whose team finished the season at 18-8. "We were here (district finals) last year and Minster beat us. We came back and they got us again. If some of these younger girls can spend a little more time improving their game, we'll see what we can draw up next year."
The Rangers had three players in double figures, led by Gabel with 17. Leffel added 12 and Jurosic chipped in with 10.
Minster improves to 20-5, reaching the 20-win plateau for the fifth season in a row. After playing its first three postseason games against fellow Midwest Athletic Conference opponents, Wiss is looking forward to a change in scenery.
"Our league and the other teams in this area really prepare you," he said. "But the No. 1 thing I have always enjoyed as a coach is having the opportunity to raise your level of play at this time of the year to get out of here, so you can play somebody that you don't know anything about."
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Knoxville's Megan Jurosic (30) drives inside against Minster's Janae Hoying (13) and Mason Pohl (22) Saturday night in the Division IV district final at Wapakoneta High School.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Minster's Mara Schmiesing (10), Averi Wolf (5) and Lauren Mox (32) hold up the Division IV district championship trophy after beating New Knoxville on Saturday.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Minster's bench celebrates as the Wildcats take an 11-point lead over New Knoxville in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
