WAPAKONETA — Wapakoneta had a plan, but Bath had other plans.
In the Wildkittens’ 46-27 girls basketball win over Wapakoneta on Thursday night, the Redskins focused their defense on Bath’s backcourt and held leading scorer Heidi Craddock to two points.
But Bath (10-4, 4-1 Western Buckeye League) got 38 of its 46 points from its frontcourt players, led by Bailey Dackin (14 points, 4 rebounds) and Elysabette Andrews (10 points, 8 rebounds).
Wapakoneta (10-4, 4-1 WBL) got 13 points from Lexi Jacobs, but the Redskins struggled offensively for the last three quarters after jumping out to a 10-8 lead after one quarter.
The Redskins had only four field goals in the last 24 minutes of the game and one of those came on a 60-foot throw by Jacobs just before the halftime buzzer.
Bath had a 29-17 lead by halftime and led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter.
“I thought our players did a really good job of finding our big kids when they had opportunities to score with the match-ups we were getting sometimes. They recognized that and our big kids came to play,” Bath coach Greg Mauk said.
“They (Wapakoneta) had a great game plan and didn’t let Heidi get the ball very much. Our kids stepped up and countered that probably as well as they could have.
“I think Wapakoneta had an off night but I like to think we had something to do with it, too. I thought we guarded pretty well but they didn’t have the night they typically would have out of Fisher and out of Jacobs and some of those kids who are top scorers,” he said.
Craddock, who came into the game averaging 11.9 points a game, attempted only three shots and got her only basket in the final seconds of the game.
Wapakoneta shot 30 percent (8 of 26) on field goals and was 4 of 17 over the last three quarters. Bath shot 45 percent (15 of 33) and had a 25-11 rebounding edge, including 12 offensive rebounds.
“Obviously, it was not a very good shooting night by us but you’ve got to give them credit. They were ready to play. We seemed like we were. But then that second quarter hit,” Wapakoneta coach Rusty Allen said, referring to his team being outscored 21-7 in that quarter.
“The thing that was frustrating was that they did not do anything we did not expect them to do. They played great defense, they were patient offensively. I don’t think we played terrible defense but when you’re playing defense most of the game it makes it tough on you offensively,” he said.
Bath’s win leaves No. 1-ranked Ottawa-Glandorf as the only undefeated girls basketball team in the WBL.
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