The Daily Standard
Story Archive
New Bremen's Aaron Wuebker (10) and Marion Local's Brennen Hess (3) battle for position in the paint during the teams Division VI district semifinal game at Wapakoneta High School.
WAPAKONETA - Leading after the first quarter should be a good thing, but Tuesday night showed that basketball is not about how you start, but how you finish.
Marion Local led off the night with a 43-41 comeback victory over New Bremen, while St. Henry's lead slipped in their 51-44 loss against Spencerville in a pair of Division VI district semifinals.
An 11-2 lead had New Bremen feeling good against MAC runner-ups Marion Local, but the Flyers rallied in the second half to get past the Cardinals en route to a district semifinal win.
The win puts Marion Local in the district championship game on Friday at Wapakoneta but they will have to wait for an opponent as Allen East and Ada play tonight in Liberty-Benton.
New Bremen (15-9) started red-hot behind Aaron Wuebker's five first quarter points and took their nine-point lead in just five minutes. The Flyers (22-1) started just 1-of-6 from the floor, but found some offense to make it 11-5. The Cardinals used a pair of free-throws from Gavin Quellhorst to take a 13-7 lead into the first break.
"That tournament pressure is something you have to get used to," Marion Local coach Kurt Goettemoeller said. "(New Bremen) played tough and we played tight."
Brayden Mescher and Kale Ahrens trimmed the deficit for Marion to open the second. The Cardinals' turnover setup Ahrens, who was found by Mescher on a cut. Lukas Lennartz responded for the Cardinals with a physical finish himself, and the score was 15-11 with under six minutes left in the half.
New Bremen's Lukas Lennartz (in air) tries to avoid Marion Local's Kale Ahrens.
After the teams traded miscues on the court and at the charity stripe, Grant Kremer got a trey to fall from the elbow to get the crowd into the game. Despite leading 15-14, New Bremen coach Corey Stephens called timeout with 4:15 on the clock.
Mescher gave the Flyers the lead on a steal-and-score out of the break, but Lennartz put his team back on top from the paint. A three from Wyatt Weidner pushed the New Bremen lead to 20-16. Ahrens got a layup to drop for the final points of the half and the Cardinals took a 20-18 lead into the intermission.
Coming out the locker room, Marion looked like the team on top. Kremer nailed another three to open the half and give the Flyers a 21-20 lead. Mescher made it a 5-0 run on a put-back effort two minutes into the quarter, and Marion had its largest lead at 23-20.
Lennartz trimmed the margin to just one, but the next six points belonged to the Flyers. Mescher set himself up for a layup on a steal, while Brennen Hess got on the board with a layup of his own. Ahrens' drive resulted in a potential and-one, but the free throw was missed.
Still, Marion had a 29-22 lead with 3:22 left in the third while New Bremen needed a response. Guard Gavin Dicke was out, but the spark came from the other Gavin.
Quellhorst scored the next four points for the Cardinals to make it 29-26 with under two minutes on the clock. The teams traded points to end the quarter and Marion held a 30-28 lead to end the third.
Points were flew on the board to open the fourth quarter. Kremer nailed a corner three to lift the lid, and the senior got another to drop from deep to give him 12 points for the game. Lennartz' layup was sandwiched in between the bombs, and the score was 36-30 with under seven minutes left.
A tough jumper from Ryan Leichliter made it a four-point game, and the Cardinals took a timeout. Out of the timeout, Mescher split a double-team and found Kremer for an easy layup to make it 38-32. More importantly, the Flyers bled nearly two minutes off the clock on the possession.
A layup from Charles Nelson cut the lead to four, but Ahrens earned another and-one the next possession. He made the free-throw, and gave his team a seven-point advantage.
Determined not to go down easy, New Bremen rallied behind Weidner and Lennartz to get the score to 41-38. An old-fashioned three from Wuebker cut the Flyer lead to 42-41 with 52 seconds left.
"They just kept coming at us," Goettemoeller said of the Cardinals. "(Lennartz) did a great job getting to the rim and making plays for them."
Luke Everman was fouled the following play, and the game was in the hands of the junior forward. He made one to set the score at 43-41, and Bremen called time to set up a play. The Cardinals' effort devolved into madness, and they could not get a shot off by the buzzer.
"We put a running clock on them in the first game we played this year (a 58-23 Marion win). They did not let us do that this time," Goettemoeller said.
The Flyers were paced by Kremer's 14 points, with Ahrens adding 13 and Mescher 12.
New Bremen was led by Lennartz' 15 points, the only Cardinal in double-figures.
St. Henry's Brayden Heath (11) goes up to attempt a block on the shot of Spencerville's Will Sensabaugh.
A fast start did not lend itself kindly to St. Henry, as the Redskins let an early 14-point lead slip against Spencerville in a thriller to end the night.
"Tonight was sheer disappointment,"St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck said. "These guys were so much fun to be around. For them to overcome adversity they had early in the season, it's disappointing that we won't get to practice tomorrow."
For the Bearcats (17-7), they will have to wait to see who their district final opponent is as Crestview and Ayersville battle tonight in Defiance. The final will be at Defiance on Friday.
Things could not have gone much better for St. Henry (17-7) in the opening quarter. Behind an 8-of-11 start from the field, the Redskins led 19-7 after eight minutes. Brayden Heath had seven points and Jack Huelsman added five, including a three at the horn to aid the fast start.
St. Henry's Tate Boeckman dunks the ball against Spencerville in the Division VI district semifinal.
The big foundation St. Henry had laid down showed cracks in the second quarter. Despite Heath making it 21-7 early, the Bearcats scored the next five to trim the lead to single-digits.
Huelsman's layup made it 23-12 with five minutes left in the half, but that would be the final points for St. Henry in the quarter. Spencerville's Will Sensabaugh scored five points, and Grady Smith capped off the half with a put-back layup to make it 23-19 at the half.
St. Henry was held to just four points in the second quarter as the Bearcats found a rhythm behind Sensabaugh.
While Austin Zimmerman calmed some Redskins' nerves with a fading jumper to open the half, Spencerville kept pouring on the points.
Smith and Will Sensabaugh rallied their team to eventually take a 30-29 lead with under five minutes left in the quarter. Owen Sensabaugh nailed the three to give the Bearcats the lead, one they would not relinquish.
The St. Henry offense was held to five points over the final 4:40 of the quarter as the Spencerville lead soared. Will Sensabaugh scored eight points in the closing stretch with Owen adding a three late and the Bearcats led 44-35 after three quarters. Sensabaugh had 10 in the quarter on four-of-eight shooting.
"They made the big run, but a lot has to do with us," Rosenbeck said. "We didn't rebound the ball throughout the game."
Smith kept the run going to start the fourth on a put-back that pushed the lead to 11. Huelsman's layup trimmed the margin some, while Zimmerman made it a 46-39 game later.
Spencerville was content to dribble the clock down, and it forced St. Henry into tough fouls. The first seven combined possessions killed nearly six minutes of clock with Spencerville taking a 47-39 lead with 2:30 left.
"They had 14 offensive rebounds, while we had four," Rosenbeck said of Spencerville. "That's all we talked about throughout the week because we had to make sure we hit and check. They play extremely hard."
Charlie Werling and Max Delzeith combined for five points and gave the Redskins hope at 48-44, but it was not enough.
The Bearcats used big makes at the line to extend their lead and take over the game. It would have seemed impossible early, but they outscored St. Henry 37-16 in the second and third quarters to end the night comfortably ahead.
Will Sensabaugh's 22 led Spencerville, with Smith adding 12.
St. Henry was led by Huelsman's 13 points, while Heath scored 10.
