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St. Marys' Ella Jacobs (1) tries to keep St. Henry's Molly Wendel from making a basket during Tuesday's girls basketball game at Redskin Gymnasiuam.
ST. HENRY - Trailing St. Marys 28-20 with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter, St. Henry looked to battle back, something that at times the Redskins have struggled with this season.
The Redskins began to claw back in the fourth quarter, getting the lead for good with 2:06 remaining in regulation and then holding on for a 44-42 win over the Roughriders on Tuesday night at Redskin Gymnasium.
"It was a good win with a close game," said St. Henry coach Nate Uhlenhake. "I think all of our wins have been (by larger margins). All the close games, we hadn't pulled them out. It was really good to get over the hump and pick up a good team win."
St. Marys took an 18-16 lead at halftime on Reese Rable's buzzer-beater. The Roughriders tried to pull away, taking an eight-point lead with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter, and after St. Henry whittled the margin to two on a Jalynn Everman bucket with 1:29 remaining in the quarter, Cadence Hirschfeld knocked down a 3-pointer to push the margin back to five heading into the fourth quarter.
Morgan Hesse quickly made it a seven-point lead for the Roughriders, but an Everman trey followed by free throws by Molly Wendel and a Morgan Baumer hoop-and-harm 3-point play put the Redskins in front for the first time since the second quarter at 34-33.
St. Marys' Cadence Hirschfeld (25) keeps the ball away from St. Henry's Chloe Speck during Tuesday's game in St. Henry.
Cora Rable hit two free throws to get St. Marys back in front, but Wendel hit a bucket while getting fouled to make it 36-35 with 2:06 to play. Wendel missed the free throw, but St. Marys was unable to take advantage, and 20 seconds later, Wendel was fouled while pulling down a rebound to go to the line. Wendel made the back-end of the two-shot foul to give St. Henry a 37-35 lead.
"We talk about working to get some pressure and force them to make (opponents) make decisions they don't want to make or make them quicker than they'd like," said Uhlenhake, referring to St. Marys being forced into 17 turnovers. "It takes all five, and we stepped it up in the second half."
"We have to take care of the ball better," said St. Marys coach Jon Burke. "I think we had more turnovers tonight than we've had all season. Credit St. Henry's defense. They were physical with us."
After St. Marys missed a free throw, Leah Lefeld scored with 61 seconds remaining to make it a four-point game. After a Roughrider turnover, Lauren Thieman made one free throw to make it 40-35 with 38.1 seconds to play. Reese Rable buried a trey with 25 seconds left to get the Roughriders within two points and called timeout to set up the defense.
The Redskins got the ball in and Morgan Baumer was fouled with 17.8 seconds left, making one free throw. With a foul to spare before St. Marys went into the double-bonus, St. Henry fouled Cora Rable before she could try a three. Rable made the first, but missed the second as Lefeld rebounded and was fouled. Lefeld made both tosses on the other end to make it 43-39.
St. Marys' Cora Rable brings the ball up court past St. Henry's Morgan Baumer (23) as Rileigh Baumer looks on at Redskin Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Reagan Allemeier got St. Marys within a point with a trey as Burke called timeout with 3.2 seconds remaining. Wendel was fouled on the inbounds and made the first free throw to make it a two-point game. After St. Marys called its final timeout with 1.8 seconds to go, Wendel missed and St. Marys was unable to get a shot off to try for the tie.
"It was a good team effort," said Uhlenhake. "Proud of they way they stepped up and finished out the game. It wasn't always pretty, but they battled."
"We had a four-point lead with four minutes to play and took some ill-advised shots too early in the possession," said Burke. "We had a lot of unforced errors tonight that cost us opportunities. We have to take care of the ball a little better."
Wendel finished with 12 points for St. Henry (12-7). Everman finished with 11.
Cora Rable led St. Marys (11-9) with 12 points. Allemeier added 10.
Both teams take to the road on Thursday for league play. St. Henry travels to Delphos to play St. John's in a varsity-only contest while St. Marys will be at Elida.
