The Daily Standard
Story Archive
New Knoxville's Avery Albers (4), looks to break the trap of St. Marys' Lauren Jacobs, right, and Logan Henschen.
NEW KNOXVILLE - A second quarter run had New Knoxville thinking it could pull an upset against its Auglaize County rivals, but St. Marys dominated the second half to run away with a 66-44 win at Ranger gymnasium for its fourth victory in a row.
The loss is the fourth in a row for the Rangers (3-13), who now have an 0-4 mark against Western Buckeye League opponents this season.
It was a simple enough start for St. Marys (10-6), which scored eight of the first 10 points en route to a 21-7 lead after the end of the first. Threes from Lauren Jacobs and Sophia Menker aided the fast start. Menker scored nine of her game-high 25 points in the quarter on 3-of-4 shooting from deep.
"Soph just steadies us every night." St. Marys coach Scott Jordan said of his guard. "She's our cool factor when we are in a rush and in a panic, she can slow us down. She does a great job leading on both sides of the ball."
A three from the elbow opened the quarter for Avery Albers and New Knoxville, as the Rangers started to pick up the pace. Back-to-back threes from Lela Gottschalk cut a then 25-13 margin to just 25-19. Both treys were assisted by Reece Albers from the post, as the inside-out game worked like a charm in the quarter.
Another Avery Albers shot, this time from inside, cut the deficit to just four with 2:24 left in the half. It was the final shot of the 9-0 run in a three minute span, and it seemed as though the Rangers were going to take the fight to the Roughriders.
St. Marys' Logan Henschen (11) tries to dribble into the paint against New Knoxville.
In response, St. Marys closed the quarter on a 5-0 run and took a 30-21 lead into the break. Both makes were off the back of New Knoxville turnovers with Jacobs' jumper being followed up by a late layup from Claire Turner.
After shooting 6-of-12 in the first quarter, the Roughriders were a solid 4-of-10 in the second quarter. It was the three turnovers that limited possessions, and got the Rangers back into the game. On the other end, New Knoxville was 5-of-9 in the quarter, with three of the makes being from deep.
"It killed us that we got down pretty bad in the first quarter," New Knoxville coach Alivia Koening said. "But after that they stepped up, and in the second quarter they fought hard."
Just when it seemed like the Rangers were going to continue the effort, St. Marys used an 8-3 run to stretch their lead to 38-24. It forced a timeout from New Knoxville, but the momentum was building for the Riders.
St. Marys' Sophia Menker (4) blocks the shot of New Knoxville's Keira Wellman (5).
Avery Albers finally slowed the run on a free-throw with 4:46 left and the score 40-25. The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes to set the score at 45-30. Five points from Menker and two from Turner ended the quarter for St. Marys while Gottschalk's three for the Rangers was the only points over the final two minutes. It meant that the Rider were able to take a 52-33 lead into the fourth quarter, and the result was all but confirmed.
"We picked up our defensive intensity in the third quarter and were able to get some steals and layups to break it open," Jordan said. "New Knoxville fought hard and did not give us an opportunity to pull away early."
New Knoxville was held to 3-of-10 shooting over the final eight minutes, and the benches were emptied by both squads throughout the quarter. Addison Albers scored two of her 15 points in the quarter, while Gottschalk and Paige Webb added a trey each.
St. Marys had six players score in the quarter, while the final points came from a Caliana Bond-Awls trey. The Riders had won the game's turnover battle 16-7, and were an efficient 48 % from the field. While Menker led the scoring, Reineke's 11 points and five-rebound effort had the Roughriders with two double-digit scorers.
