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Celina's Rachel Rammel shoots a layup in front of Perry's Khaliah Luster at the Fieldhouse on Thursday.
CELINA - Coming off a lopsided opening loss to Coldwater, Celina erased a first-quarter deficit and overcame an uneven showing on offense to pick up its first win.
The Bulldogs took an 11-point lead into halftime and finished with a 50-33 win over Perry in a girls basketball game at the Fieldhouse on Thursday.
"I'm happy for the girls," Celina coach Bret Baucher said. "They responded well after a tough one on Tuesday. Obviously we lack some experience, definitely had some butterflies. They came out ready to play tonight, and we grew up a little bit."
A 5-0 run over 45 seconds late in the first quarter, capped by a breakaway layup by Miauni Hall, gave the Commodores (1-1) a 10-7 lead, and they were up 12-11 at the end of the quarter. But the second was all Bulldogs.
After Zyasija Scott scored off a turnover to make it 14-11, Brooke Baucher hit a corner three to tie it up with six minutes left in the half, and 53 seconds later, she drove along the left side of the paint for a layup that put Celina (1-1) ahead for good.
Celina's Brinley Korte is fouled by Perry's Miauni Hall in the first quarter at the Fieldhouse on Thursday,
It took almost two minutes before either team was able to put more points on the board, but then Brinley Korte hit a long jumper for Celina with 3:17 to go, unleashing the Bulldogs' big run. Rachel Rammel got a line drive shot to fall for another three, and after Hall got another steal-and-score, Kenlee Holstad hit two free throws to restore the seven-point lead.
Rammel stole the ball for a Baucher layup, and Korte added two more from the line with 14.7 seconds left to give Celina a 27-16 lead at the break.
"We talked in the timeout, we felt that they were tired," coach Baucher said. "They were tired, and we really needed to crank it up a little bit. To our credit, I think we turned them over a few times and were able to finish. The only way you can go on runs like that is, you've got to get stops. You've got to get stops, then finish on the other end. So I think that was a critical part of the game, to separate ourselves a little bit before halftime."
Celina's defense forced seven turnovers in the second quarter and only allowed four points as the Bulldogs took the lead.
Celina's Kenlee Holstad reaches back for a loose ball as Perry's Zyasija Scott dives on it.
The defense then did much of the work in the second half, forcing 16 turnovers with 12 steals and deflecting a number of Commodore passes.
"We're flying around, we're doing a better job communicating," coach Baucher said. "We've still got to work a little bit on finishing possessions with rebounds or recovering a loose ball, that definitely has room for improvement. But I've been very happy with our effort defensively and our energy. It's been good, and it wears on teams. So that's got to be our M.O. right now, while we try to find a groove offensively."
Perry wasn't able to get much closer through a low-scoring third quarter, with just five points combined in the first six minutes and more scoring from the charity stripe than the field. The teams combined for 20 free throws, with the Bulldogs going 6-for-10 and the Commodores shooting 5-for-10, and Celina was only able to add two points to its lead.
After trading points early in the fourth, Korte banked in a jumper from close range 90 seconds in, then added a breakaway layup. Lilly Shreffler hit a layup on a pass from Rammel, and Rammel hit one of two free throws to stretch the lead to 20 with 4:19 remaining.
On the other side, the Bulldogs committed 35 turnovers, but Perry was only able to convert them into 15 points.
"They definitely forced some turnovers," coach Baucher said. "They played extremely hard, they've got some quickness, got us in some tough spots. But a lot of that was self-inflicted too. We've got to do a better job taking care of the basketball. That's one thing we keep talking about that we've got to improve on."
Baucher finished with 13 points and five rebounds and Korte scored 12 with six boards. Alex Kimmel led Celina with nine rebounds.
Tyanah Gordan led Perry with nine points and Hall finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
Celina has a week off before opening its Western Buckeye League schedule when St. Marys comes to town.
"They found some success, and we saw the ball go in the hole a little better than Tuesday, which was good," coach Baucher said. "That's what we've got to build on. We were able to be successful, got to build a little conference getting prepared for league play."
