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Marion Local's Lindsey Koenig (30) tries to get around Minster's Lydia Mescher during Saturday's Division IV girls basketball district final at Wapakoneta High School. The Flyers won its first district title since 2015 with the win over the Wildcats.
WAPAKONETA - Minster's defense smothered Waynesfield-Goshen and kicked off St. Henry, but it only held Marion Local's offense down for a half.
The Flyers found a rhythm in the second half and staved off the Wildcats' last-ditch comeback for a 43-33 win in the Division IV girls basketball district final at Redskin Gymnasium in Wapakoneta on Saturday.
"I thought we came out in the second half definitely more aggressive offensively, we attacked a little more," Marion Local coach Beth Streib said. "Hanna (Rose) hit a big shot to end the first half and to start the second half, which was big. Once we got that lead, I thought we continued to attack and didn't get complacent like we did on Thursday."
Marion (22-4) moves on to face undefeated and top-ranked Tri-Village (26-0) in the regional semifinals at Vandalia-Butler's Student Activity Center on Thursday at 6 p.m. The other semifinal pits Shelby County League rivals Fort Loramie and Russia in the teams' third meeting this season.
The Flyers claimed their first district title since 2015. Since then, they've lost twice in the district final, including last year's 58-42 defeat to state runner-up New Knoxville, and four times in the district semifinals.
"We kind of challenged our seniors at halftime," Streib said. "We didn't think they had played the best in the first half. (Sophomores) Avae (Unrast) and Chloe (Ronnebaum) had most of our points, and we kind of challenged them to step up. I thought they did what they needed to do, stepped up and hit some big buckets … they weren't ready to be done."
Minster ends its season at 14-11.
Minster's Lilly Barhorst (14) blocks the shot of Marion Local's Chloe Ronnebaum during Saturday's Division IV district basketball final at Wapakoneta High School.
"I'm proud of our kids," Minster coach Mike Wiss said. "I think our community should be proud of our kids, and I think on both sides everybody should be proud of all the kids. What an atmosphere, and those kids laid it all on the line.
"My honest opinion is, I wish Marion Local good luck."
Unrast got Marion going early with a long jump shot, but then a slew of unforced turnovers led to three scoreless minutes. Kaycie Albers put Minster in the lead with a three, Unrast tied the game with a free throw, and after Lydia Mescher got a layup from Lilly Barhorst to put the Wildcats back in front, Ronnebaum hit a trey with 6.6 seconds left to give Marion a 6-5 lead after one.
But the Flyers' offense fell into a deeper slump to open the second, and Addi Inskeep kicked off a Minster run with a free throw. Albers scored five points and Barhorst added a layup to make it 13-6 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the half.
"I think it was a little jittery," Streib said. "At halftime, we told them, 'Just play the game. Don't think about it so much and just play.' "
Unrast sparked Marion with a steal and a breakaway layup through contact, then hit the and-one to cut the deficit to four. Allison Dirksen grabbed a rebound on the other end and Unrast got a backside rebound and a stick-back to make it 13-11, and Ronnebaum tied it with a pair of free throws.
Minster's Katie McClurg (3) tries to steal the ball from Marion Local's Hanna Rose.
Rose hit a corner three with four seconds left, making it 16-13 at the half. Unrast then went right back to Rose to start the third, and she fired a contested three from the other corner that rattled home to give Marion a six-point lead.
"I think we were just more in the flow of our offense," Streib said about the outside shooting. "In the first half, we weren't shooting real well. We missed bunnies and whatever else. But in the second half, we were taking shots more in the flow of our offense."
Minster cut the deficit to two, but Unrast scored four straight and Rose found Ronnebaum at the top of the key for another trey to make it 26-17 with 3:56 left in the third.
After trading buckets, Rose found Knapke on a back cut along the baseline with 33 seconds left, and Knapke laid it in to stretch the lead to nine after three.
"Avae and Chloe are nice guards, they did a lot of their scoring tonight," Wiss said. "But for a period of time, I thought we did a nice job slowing them down. Maybe giving something a little bit that they hadn't seen. But when you have good weapons, sometimes you can hold them down for a little bit, but not a long time."
Three straight Minster turnovers helped Marion stretch the lead to 15 midway through the fourth, but then the Wildcats surged back. Albers started it off with a corner three to cut the lead to 40-28, Barhorst stole the ball and Lyndi Hemmelgarn added another three to make it a nine-point game with two minutes to go.
Barhorst nabbed another Flyers inbound pass and Hemmelgarn drove for a layup to cut the deficit to seven, and after Katie McClurg forced a jump ball turnover, Albers and Hemmelgarn took two good looks behind the arc and watched both bounce out.
"I think we battled," Wiss said. "We don't stop, we don't quit. Never give up, never let up."
Koenig grabbed the last rebound and Minster was forced to start fouling. The Flyers shot 3-of-5 from the line in the final 30 seconds, and with a seven-point lead in hand, that was enough to secure the win.
Albers led all scorers with 13 points, while Unrast finished with 12, Rose tallied 11 and Ronnebaum added 10.
