First Posted: 1/16/2015
BATH TOWNSHIP — It only takes one spurt to make a difference in a basketball game.
Or, in the case of Friday’s Western Buckeye League boys matchup between Bath and visiting Wapakoneta, it was the lack of a spurt that made the difference.
After Bath went into the halftime break with a 28-20 lead, Wapakoneta came out of the locker room in the third quarter and outscored Bath 13-3, to claim a 33-31 lead by the third stop. Bath struggled shooting, connecting on just 1-of-10 from the field in that eight-minute stretch.
Wapakoneta staved off Bath in the final quarter to come away with a hard-fought 50-46 victory.
Adam Henderson took it over for the Redskins (6-5, 2-1 WBL) in the second half, scoring 15 of his 19 total points, in the final two quarters of action. The 6-foot-1 Henderson penetrated the Bath defense and made several shots inside the paint. He also hit a 3-pointer in the third quarter, which ignited the Wapakoneta run. Henderson also ripped down six rebounds and dished out three assists.
Jarrett Koch added eight points, including two shots behind the arc for the Redskins. Teammate Corey Crawford added eight points.
After his team got down by eight points by the break, Wapakoneta coach Doug Selvey challenged his team.
“I kind of challenged the kids at halftime. I told them, ‘They (Bath) have a kid out there (Andrew Renner) hitting shots. We need a kid to step up now, too.’ I thought that Adam really rose to that challenge,” Selvey said. “But, I really think the thing between us and other teams is that we have like 7, 8, 9 guys that can step up in a situation like that. I really thought Adam imposed his will. That’s a guy who has played varsity for four years. And that’s what we expect out of him.”
Renner led all scorers with 23 points, including three 3-pointers. Renner also pulled down seven rebounds, blocked three shots and made two steals for Bath (3-7, 0-3).
“If you can’t score, then you can’t hold a team from scoring forever,” Bath coach Shawn Allen said. “We scored three points in the third quarter. We had wide open looks and just couldn’t get them to go down. We’re just struggling making shots. The kids’ effort was great. The kids played with a tremendous amount of heart and hustle. But, you can’t hold a team from scoring and not score on your end.”
As a team, Bath shot 36 percent from the field. Wapakoneta countered with 47-percent shooting.
Bath held a slight edge on the boards, 27-26.
At the free throw line, Bath made 8-of-12 (67 percent). Wapakoneta connected on 6-of-8 (75 percent) from the charity stripe, including a perfect 6-of-6 in the fourth quarter.
The eight-point halftime lead for Bath was its largest on the night.
There were three lead changes in the first quarter. A 3-pointer by Renner from the right wing at the buzzer, knotted the game at 15.
In the second quarter, Renner scored seven of Bath’s 13 second-quarter points. Wapakoneta struggled in the second period, hitting just 2-of-11 from the floor.
Bath committed 11 turnovers. The Redskins turned the ball over 14 times.
“We wanted to pressure their kids a little more,” Selvey said. “We did a better job with that (in the second half). I thought there were a couple times in the first half, where we were denying and then we would stop.”
