First Posted: 1/22/2015
BATH TOWNSHIP — Maybe the biggest certainty for Bath’s girls basketball team through its first 13 games was the ability of its defense to lock down an opponent.
So, when St. Marys came out and shot 75 percent, hit three 3-pointers and scored 21 points in the first quarter on Thursday night, the Wildkittens knew they had some work to do.
Bath (13-1, 5-0 Western Buckeye League) eventually won 56-47 and extended its WBL regular-season winning streak to 38 games. But that big first quarter allowed St. Marys (7-6, 3-2 WBL) to make it close for four quarters.
Alyssa Manley scored 23 points and Maddie Dackin scored 11 for Bath. Ellie Dackin had nine rebounds.
Shania Taylor (20 points, 14 rebounds), Erica Antsmann (13 points) and Sydney Cisco (10 points) led St. Marys.
“Our team has a defensive average of 35 points a game and we gave up 21 in that first quarter,” Bath coach Greg Mauk said. “We were getting beat to the rim way too many times and it was causing some situations that allowed them to get in there and score or get fouled. Give them credit, they came out and played hard but we didn’t defend like we defend.
“Sometimes it’s a good thing to have kind of a wake-up call like that and have to reach down and pull something out from inside that says, ‘We’re going to bear down and turn this thing around.’ And the kids did that,” he said.
St. Marys coach Nicki Miars said, “Bath is ranked and they’re ranked for a reason. We just wanted to come in and concentrate on what we wanted to do. Hanging with them at the beginning of the game helped our confidence a little bit. They had fresh legs at the end, and we only played six players. But I don’t think we ran out of steam.”
