SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP – Down right cold described both the outside temperature and the shooting percentages for the Delphos St. Johns and Shawnee basketball teams Monday night.
The two met at Lappin Gymnasium in a non-league battle and the home standing Indians hung on for a 32-26 win as both squads struggled to score points the entire game.
Shawnee claimed the win thanks to some stellar defense and taking a solid lead into the final period of play.
The Indians claimed quarter leads of 8-4, 17-10, and 26-15 entering the fourth quarter thanks to the shooting woes of the Blue Jays.
Delphos had connected on only 3-of-30 shots from the floor through three quarters of play. That figures out to a measly 10 percent shooting percentage.
The Indians scored two quick baskets to stretch the lead to 30-15 before Delphos connected on back to back 3-pointers from Betty Vorst and Hannah Bockey. A 2-point basket by Madilynn Schulte got the Blue Jays to within 30-23 with four minutes to play but Shawnee was able to hang on for the win.
“We are getting good shots but I think the game is faster than we can practice at,” Delphos coach Dan J. Grothouse said. “Give them credit, they made us play at a tempo we are not comfortable with.”
The Indians used a 3-2 zone plus pressed full-court with both a 1-3-1 and 1-2-2 that kept the Blue Jays out of sync.
“I thought both teams played hard on the defensive end,” Shawnee coach Jeff Heistan said. “We are both struggling with shooting the ball.”
The Blue Jays are very thin from a depth stand-point as they only had six girls warming up until they were joined by the junior varsity players.
The Indians are still fighting the injury bug so both teams are struggling in the early part of the season.
The Blue Jays finished the game hitting only 16 percent from the floor on 7-of-43 shooting while Shawnee connected on 11-of-36 from the field good for 30 percent.
Turnovers were almost even with Delphos omitting 20 compared to 19 miscues for the Indians. Shawnee won the rebounding by a 29-23 margin.
Vorst led the Blue Jays with 11 points in the game but Delphos only had three other players score. The Indians were led by junior Alissa Stahler with her 11-point effort. The difference in the game was the Indians had seven other players crack into the scoring column.
“We have trouble taking care of the ball and make way too many turnovers,” Heistan said. We hope to have everybody back by mid-January which will give us time to get ready for the tournament.”
Grothouse was willing to give credit to the Indians and their play on this night.
“They are athletic and aggressive and their size hurt us.” Grothouse said. “We held them to 32 points but got in a hurry and their pressure got to us.”
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