Wildcats hold on against Cardinals

NEW BREMEN - Minster jumped out to a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter and ended up winning by six points. In between, the margin never wavered by more than four points.

The Wildcats employed some pressure defense to protect their early lead and posted a 47-41 victory over Midwest Athletic Conference rival New Bremen in a girls basketball game Thursday evening at the Cardinal Gymnasium.

Lily Lennartz hit a trey from the corner in the opening minutes to give New Bremen what would be its only lead of the game at 3-2. Minster (5-1, 2-0 MAC) scored the next seven points and then closed out the first quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 15-9 advantage.

The two teams traded buckets in the second quarter with neither squad able to put together a run of more than three unanswered points.

"We were expecting a run to make the lead bigger. They were expecting a run to make it tighter, and neither one happened," Minster coach Mike Wiss said.

Baseline to baseline pressure defense by both teams resulted in a combined 42 turnovers.

"I knew it was going to be like this, because that's what New Bremen can do to you with their athleticism," Wiss said. "I'd like to think we're athletic in a few spots as well, but the six inches between our ears has to show that calm and that resolve when the pressure's on."

A bucket by Kaylee Freund pulled the Cardinals within two, 26-24, early in the third quarter, but they would get no closer.

New Bremen (2-2, 1-1 MAC) committed eight of its 24 turnovers in the third quarter as Minster closed out the period on a 6-2 run to lead 32-26 heading into the final eight minutes.

"It was a tough one. Too many mental lapses on both ends of the floor," New Bremen coach Andy Timmerman said. "We didn't take care of the ball as well as we needed to, and when we did get stops, we couldn't connect on the offensive end. We just couldn't put it all together and make a run."

Back-to-back layups by Minster's Katie McClurg gave the Wildcats a 38-29 lead with 4:55 left in the game. New Bremen got within five at one point down the stretch, but couldn't cobble together a longer run.

Lilly Barhorst came off the bench to lead Minster with 12 points. Ella Mescher, who battled foul trouble all night, chipped in 10.

The Wildcats were just 1-for -12 behind the arc, hit 14 of 26 free throws and were guilty of 18 turnovers.

"One thing we routinely say is, 'there's no mistakes, just learning experiences,'" Wiss said, "and today we learned a lot about ourselves. I'm happy with the win, don't get me wrong. MAC games are supposed to be like this."

Freund finished with 16 points to lead all scorers. Lennartz chipped in 11.

"As far as defense goes, I thought we did a pretty good job of playing physical," Timmerman said. "We created some turnovers with our ball pressure, we just have to do a better job of taking care of the ball and rebounding."

Both teams return to action on Saturday. Minster faces off with backyard rival and defending Division IV state champ Fort Loramie in Minster while New Bremen hosts Delphos Jefferson.