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New Knoxville's Addison Albers tries to box out Minster's Lilly Barhorst at Wildcat Gymnasium on Saturday.
MINSTER - For the first 1 ½ quarters, New Knoxville was giving Minster all it could handle.
Then the Wildcats flipped the switch on defense, holding the Rangers to just one point over the next eight minutes and pulling away for a 49-25 victory in the Division IV girls basketball sectional final at Wildcat Gymnasium on Saturday night.
Minster (18-6) heads to Wapakoneta on Thursday night for the district semifinals against backyard rival New Bremen, which defeated Perry 42-25 to move on. The Wildcats and Cardinals will play the nightcap with Marion Local and St. Henry facing off in the opener.
New Knoxville (3-20) led by four points 2 ½ minutes into the game and was down 13-12 early in the second period, but struggled as turnovers - 27 in the game and 17 in the first half - began to pile up and Minster was able to knock down transition baskets.
"You 100% expect, especially against an MAC team, in a sectional final to have to match their energy," said Minster coach Mike Wiss. "(New Knoxville) came out ready to go. Lots of pressure and they made their first four buckets."
The Rangers got the opening basket and later took a 5-4 lead on Addi Albers' old-fashioned 3-point play less than two minutes into the game. Moments later, Avery Albers hit a trey to make it 8-4. Minster came back as Ava Stammen tied the game with one bucket and then Lydia Mescher put the Wildcats in front to stay seconds later.
Minster's Annie Hemmelgarn (4) and Lydia Mescher try to trap New Knoxville's Keianna Wellman (5) during Saturday's Division IV girls basketball sectional final at Wildcat Gymnasium. Minster defeated New Knoxville to advance to the district semifinals at Wapakoneta.
New Knoxville kept Minster from pulling away with a bucket by Anna Larger at the six-minute mark of the second quarter to make it 18-12. Addi Albers' bucket with 4:43 to play trimmed the lead to 18-14, but that was the closest the Rangers would get.
Larger hit a pair of free throws to make it 20-14 with 4 ½ minutes to play, starting an 8-0 run that ended with 9.1 seconds remaining in the half when Addi Albers hit a free throw to make the score 26-15 Wildcats.
"Anna played well in the first half of the game with deflections, steals and a couple of layups," said Wiss. "I don't know if we got a lot of stuff off running the offense, but all the other things that lead to that - an extra pass or a little transition basket."
"I never have to question my girls going out and giving it their all," said Rangers coach Alivia Koenig. "Unfortunately, we only have so many girls that can play at that level and compete. The shots weren't falling, and when they take away our best player and offensive threat, it's hard."
New Knoxville's woes continued as Minster scored six straight points to start the third quarter, with Sadie Niemeyer making the score 32-15 before Avery Albers snapped an 8:06 cold spell with a 3-pointer.
Minster's Anna Larger takes a shot through contact against New Knoxville.
The Wildcats outscored the Rangers 9-5 down the stretch to go up 41-23 heading into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, the Rangers had just one bucket as Wiss cleared his bench to close out the game.
"(New Knoxville) scored 15 points in the first half and 10 points in the second half," said Wiss. "Was really pleased how we came out at halftime. There's important parts of the game, and coming out at halftime is one of them."
Eight Wildcats got in the scoring column with Larger leading the way with 12. Lilly Barhorst and Niemeyer each added eight points.
Addi Albers finished with 11 points for New Knoxville. Avery Albers added 10 points.
