ST. MARYS – Engaged in a shootout in the first quarter on Tuesday night with visiting St. Johns, the St. Marys offense continued in high gear through the final three quarters as they out shot the Blue Jays in the final 24 minutes for a 55-35 victory at Grand Lake Health Court.
St. Marys struggled from the field in their Saturday afternoon loss to New Knoxville but found the bottom of the net repeatedly on this evening in the opening period as their transition game repeatedly turned Jays miscues into baskets on the opposite end,
After the Riders opened the game with a four point run the St. Johns duo of Emma Will and Abby Buettner tied up the score with 5:14 remaining in the period on a free throw and a three pointer from the wing respectively.
Unfortunately for the Blue Jays however the Roughriders would not trail again as they took the lead back on a Cora Rable three point goal with 4:51 left in the period and pushed the advantage to 12-7 on a Ruane fast break score.
“I thought we rebounded well and got in and transition and looked for our shots” said St. Marys coach Jon Burke after the game. ”
University of Rochester signee Paige Gaynier netted seven of her game high 17 points in the opening period to keep the Jays within 20-15 at the end of the period.
Gaynier’s three pointer with 4:46 before the half cut the St. Marys lead to 25-18 but would be the only make of the quarter for her squad as the hosts continued to push their lead behind balanced scoring from Haley Felver, Ruane, Cora Rable, Tennant, and Karsyn McGlothen who combined for a 31-18 lead at the break.
With neither squad afraid to shoot from beyond the arc the opening minutes of the third became a three point shooting competition as St. Marys knocked down two from deep from the hands of Elena Menker and Kiley Tennant while the Jays countered with a triple from Gaynier and an and-one from Abby Buettner to cut the lead to 39-30 heading into the final period.
Similarly to the second quarter in which they were held to just a single basket, the Jays were unable to cut the score into single digits in the fourth quarter as a stifling Roughrider defense held them to just a Rylee Pohlman three with 1:38 to go at 51-33, and a pair of free throws by Gaynier.
St. Marys offense was led by Ruane who notched seven of her team high 14 points in the fourth and helped to lead both the Riders rebound and running game with passes to open teammates for baskets to finish off the 55-35 victory.
After the game Burke opined “Noey Ruane played a tremendous all-around game for us. Everybody on our roster contributed tonight and having Karsyn McGlothen and Haley Felver combine for 17 was huge for us. I’m proud of our girls for finding different ways to be successful tonight.”
Delphos St. Johns (2-3) will travel to Fort Recovery on Thursday evening for a Midwest Athletic Conference tilt while the Roughriders (3-1) will host WBL rival Wapakoneta for their next outing.
Score by Quarter:
SM 20-11-8-16
DSJ 15-3-12-5
Scoring:
St. Marys (55):
Haley Felver 11
Elena Menker 3
Kendall Dieringer 5
Noelle Ruane 14
Cora Rable 7
Kiley Tennant 6
Emma Birt 3
Karsyn McGlothen 6
FT: 4/8
3PT: 5 (Menker, Dieringer, Rable, Tennant, Birt)
TO: 15
DSJ (35):
Rylee Pohlman 3
Melanie Koenig 6
Paige Gaynier 17
Emma Will 3
Abby Buettner 6
FT: 7/9
3PT: 4 (Gaynier 2, Pohlman, Buettner)
TO: 18
JV: 44-13 St. Marys