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Minster's Kole Richard (4) and Connor Schmiesing (10) pressure Delphos St. John's Cameron Elwer.
LIMA - After losing to Delphos St. John's on Dec. 13 in conference play, Minster coach Michael McClurg had a pretty good feeling it wouldn't be the last time the two teams locked horns.
The teams met again on Saturday at Lima Senior in the Division VII district final. Despite a furious start by the Wildcats, the Blue Jays withstood the storm and rolled to a 71-54 win in a game closer than the final score indicated.
The Blue Jays (22-2) opens regional play on Tuesday against neighbor Fort Jennings at the Elida Fieldhouse at 6 p.m. Minster ends its season at 16-9.
Fueled by a tenacious defense and fearless drives to the bucket, the Wildcats jumped out in front 13-3 at the start of the contest as Minster held St. John's to just three free throws. Brogan Stephey scores seven points, while Cole McClurg, added two counters by driving the lane with intense authority. For the remainder of the period, the two teams traded punches as the Orange and Black enjoyed an 18-8 command. In the period, the Wildcats held St. John's to just one field goal, a three pointer from Cameron Elwer.
Minster's Cole McClurg (1) shoots over St. John's Easton Elwer during Saturday's Division VII district final at Lima Senior.
Despite the deficit, St. John's kept their composure, went back to basics and began to slowly chip their way back in. A driving lay-in from Cameron Elwer, followed by a long ball from him the next time down the floor, ignited a 10-0 run which gave the Jays their first lead of the game, 23-22. From there, they never looked back as Cameron Elwer closed out the half with five unanswered points and Minster trailed by seven heading to the locker room at halftime.
"We really struggled in the second quarter. I felt we came out slow," coach McClurg said. "It was like we came out exhausted and just couldn't find it. I felt our game plan in the first quarter and a half had us where we wanted to be, but they went on that early run and took us out of that."
Kole Richard started the second half with a quick bucket for Minster as he and Cole Albers connected for a pair of shots the next two times down the floor to pull Minster to within four points, but St. John's sophomore Andrew Elwer scored the game's next eight points to push the Blue Jays in command by 12 points. Midway through the period, Richard slashed his way to the bucket for four more points to trim the Jays' cushion to seven and eventually the stanza ended with St. John's in charge, 52-43.
"We talked a lot about resiliency after the game," said McClurg said. "We faced some adversity this season with injuries and different things and there is nothing you can do about that, but I applaud them for their resilience up through the end today."
The Wildcats kept things within three scores a few minutes into the fourth quarter, but their hope diminished with a 7-0 Blue Jay run midway through the period which awarded them a 16-point lead. Both squads traded shots back and forth the rest of the way, but Minster was unable to string any runs together, ultimately leading to their season-ending loss by a final of 71-54.
Minster's Brogan Stephey puts up a shot during Saturday's Division VII district final in Lima.
The Wildcats were led on the night by balanced scoring from Stephey and Richard with 16 points apiece and Albers with 10 points. Minster shot just one free throw the entire game, which had a notable impact as St. John's was 17-of-21 from the line.
The Blue Jays were led by Cam Elwer with 20 points, and 19 points from Andrew Elwer and 16 from Drew Boggs.
