Hanging on for the win

BLUFFTON - With 78 seconds remaining in the third quarter, St. Marys was ahead by 20 points over Van Wert and looked ready to cruise through the fourth quarter.

The final eight minutes was more like a bumper-car ride as the Cougars went on a tear and got to within four points with under 90 seconds to play, but the Roughriders hit free throws down the stretch to escape Bluffton High School with a 37-31 win in the Division II girls basketball sectional opener on Thursday night.

St. Marys (13-10) returns to Bluffton on Saturday at noon to face fourth-seeded Fostoria (20-2) in the sectional final. Van Wert ends its season at 13-10.

"We struggled through their fourth-quarter pressure," said St. Marys coach Jon Burke. "But we had to get some poise together. Proud of our girls for fighting through that one.

"Doesn't have to be pretty. We're looking forward to playing Fostoria on Saturday."

The first three quarters were no picture of quality for either team as St. Marys led 9-4 after one quarter and caught some momentum to take a 19-8 lead at the half as the teams combined to shoot 11-of-50 (22%) from the floor in the first half. St. Marys took advantage of Van Wert's 3-of-27 effort by dominating the defensive glass, but lost the chance to put the game away by missing some bunny shots.

The Roughrider defense appeared ready to apply the coup de grâce in the third, pushing the lead to 28-8 on a Morgan Hesse bucket with 1:18 to play in the quarter as Van Wert went scoreless for seven minutes until Maria Bagley hit a pair of free throws to snap the skid.

But at the end of the third quarter, Van Wert's Sofi Houg, held scoreless through the first 23 minutes and 59 seconds of the game, knocked down a 3-pointer to make the score 28-13 going to the fourth.

That proved to be the spark Van Wert needed, as the Cougars ratcheted up its defense and started hitting shots. Kyra Welch hit a trey to start off the fourth quarter scoring and Kendra Deehring came off the bench to add a trey of her own to cut it to 28-19 with 5:11 to play, prompting Burke to call a timeout to settle his charges.

"I think we panicked a little bit," said Burke. "(Van Wert) pulled up its defensive intensity and were trapping and getting handsy. We didn't handle that well at first."

After Jordanne Blythe scored to cut it to 28-21 with 4:13 to go, Reagan Allemeier snapped St. Marys' scoreless skid with a bucket with under four to play. The woes continued as Welch hit a pair of free throws and then Deehring made a bucket and was fouled with 2:18 to play to cut St. Marys's margin to 30-25.

Forced to foul, the Cougars finally put the Roughriders at the foul line. St. Marys missed the front end of the one-and-bonus two straight times, but were able to get the rebound to keep possession and force Van Wert to keep fouling into the double bonus. This time, Cora Rable knocked down both free throws with 1:44 to play to make it a three-possession game, but Bagley knocked down a big three to get Van Wert to within four at 32-28 with 1:26 to go.

Cora Rable and Hesse came through again, as both knocked down two free throws to raise the margin to 36-28 and then Reese Rable hit one of two to make it 37-28. Erin Schaufelberger hit one last trey to cut it to six, but the clock ran out shortly after.

"Once we settled down, we made some free throws and felt like we got the control back," said Burke. "I credit Van Wert. They fought back like champions."

Hesse finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Roughriders. Reese Rable scored seven points and Ella Jacobs tallied seven points and 12 rebounds.

Welch led Van Wert with 11 points.