LIMA – Spencerville’s defense led the way in the second half in a non-league battle at Lima Central Catholic on Monday night while the offense shined to the tune of a 61-31 victory.
LCC’s Olivia Stolly connected on a two pointer late in the first half to trim the Bearcat advantage to three but would find her teams next make from the field tough to find as the T-Birds next make came with 7:20 remaining in the game from Stolly herself to stop a nearly 11 minute field goal scoreless span.
Spencerville opened the game with a basket from junior Kirsten Wurst with just :35 gone and found themselves tied at 2-2 on the very next possession on a basket by LCC’s Allison Young before racing to an 8-2 lead on makes by Emme Prine, Claire Hoback, and Heidi Keller.
Lima Central Catholic notched triples from Bridget Mulcahy and Stolly to pull even at 8-8 with 1:11 remaining in the period before being outscored 6-3 by the visitors including a shot at the buzzer from deep by Hoback to give the Cats a 14-11 advantage after one.
Second quarter action witnessed the two rivals trading baskets and the lead as Stolly, Emily Morrisey, and eventually Kiegh Macklin gave the hosts the lead at 22-20 with makes behind the Bearcat defense.
For their part the Bearcats themselves turned to the deep ball and free throws to amass a 25-22 halftime advantage behind senior Lily Goecke and Heidi Keller. Goecke beat the buzzer with the only two of the period for Spencerville as she snagged a rebound and tossed off glass just before the horn sounded at Msgr. Herr Gymnasium.
While the T-Birds found themselves limited to just a pair of free throw makes by Aubrey Frankhouser and Olivia Stolly, the Bearcats amassed a 21 point quarter led by Goecke, Wurst, Prine, and two three point goals from Keller and Gabi Croft to take a 46-24 advantage into the final eight minutes.
LCC’s Bridget Mulcahy and Olivia Stolly combined for all seven points for the Birds in the fourth but again found themselves unable to quell the Bearcats pressure and transition offense as they would surrender 15 markers to fall behind by 30 when junior Katherine Lee finished off the 61-31 Spencerville victory.
“I thought we came out a little flat in the first half and missed some we should make while giving up too many easy looks defensively. Credit to LCC as they knocked those shots down. In the third quarter we adjusted to a half court defense with a lot of pressure on the ball and our players off the ball did a better job of being in the correct position” said Spencerville coach Greg Ekis.
Lima Central Catholic (4-11) has dropped eight straight games and will next be in action on Tuesday evening when they host cross-city rival Lima Senior. LCC was led by Olivia Stolly with 12 and Bridget Mulcahy with 10.
Spencerville (9-5) is next in action on Thursday when they travel to Columbus Grove to battle the Bulldogs in an NWC tilt. Lily Goecke notched 17 while teammates Emma Prine (11) and Gabi Croft (10) joined her in double figures.
Scoring:
Spencerville (61):
Lily Goecke 17
Kirsten Wurst 8
Gabi Croft 10
Emme Prine 11
Katherine Lee 2
Claire Hoback 5
Heidi Keller 8
FT: 7/10
3PT: 6 (Keller 2, Goecke 2, Hoback, Croft)
TO: 14
LCC (31):
Aubrey Frankhouser 1
Allison Young 2
Emily Morrisey 2
Bridget Mulcahy 10
Olivia Stolly 12
Kiegh Macklin 4
FT: 3/8
3PT: 4 (Stolly 2, Mulcahy 2)
TO: 15
JV: No JV Game