WAPAKONETA – Basketball coaches constantly preach about doing the little things on the court.
However, when it’s all said and done, making the shot is still at the top of the list.
Lima Central Catholic did a lot of those little things in Monday’s matchup at Wapakoneta.
But, subpar shooting from the field by LCC, coupled with a solid shooting performance from Wapakoneta, paved the way for a 51-36 victory for Wapakoneta in girls basketball action. The Redskins led from start to finish.
LCC’s defensive effort could not overcome its 27-percent shooting performance from the floor.
Wapakoneta was balanced at the offensive end, as eight players cracked the scoring column. The Redskins shot 55 percent from the floor.
Sarah Pothast, a 6-foot, 1-inch post player, led Wapakoneta (5-1) with 12 points and six rebounds. Megan Fisher scored nine points and dished out four assists. Brooke Schlenker scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds. Lexi Jacobs scored seven points, while handing out five assists. Blasia Moyler scored six points and pulled down a game-high 11 boards.
Madison Stolly led LCC (3-4) with 12 points. However, the University of Findlay-bound guard struggled, hitting just 2-of-13 from the floor, as Wapakoneta plugged up the lane. Stolly got to the free throw line often in the second half, making a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Teammate Josie Mohler added nine points on the night.
Wapakoneta coach Rusty Allen was fully aware of Stolly’s canny ability to score off the dribble. Moyler got the assignment of guarding Stolly for a good portion of the game.
“Obviously, that was a goal of ours,” Allen said. “Tonight, the game plan was to not let her (Stolly) get that penetration. We worked on sustaining our gaps, and forcing her to give the ball up and making some of her teammates make some shots. Blasia’s pretty much been our defensive stopper. She wants that assignment. So, we’re going to give it to her.”
The Redskins led 17-6 at the end of the first quarter, and then maintained the 11-point cushion (27-16), going into the locker room at halftime.
LCC did manage to cut the deficit to six, 32-26, midway through the third quarter. However, Wapakoneta responded by pushing its lead to 41-26 by the third stop.
Allen was pleased at how his team responded to LCC’s run in the third quarter.
“I think that was just a credit to our girls out on the floor,” he said. “They didn’t panic. They just understood that if we come down and are patient, offensively, we can get some looks.”
The taller Redskins held a 30-18 rebounding edge.
Wapakoneta committed 14 turnovers, while LCC turned it over 10 times.
“Fourteen (turnovers), I wouldn’t say it would be a ton for us,” Allen said. “That’s pretty much where we’ve been throughout the year. I think maybe the timing of our turnovers was bad. Maybe it (LCC’s press) disrupted us a little bit. But, it just seemed like we got careless with the ball on some occasions. They were not good turnovers – not that any turnover is a good turnover – but, it was a timing issue. We couldn’t recover defensively.”
Added LCC coach Katie Kreig, “We always know Wapak’s very disciplined. They play good defense. They’re going to make us earn everything that we get. And we know teams are going to focus on Madison.
“We gave up some easy points, probably eight or ten layups, that we should have made. If we put those easy buckets in, then it’s an even game. But, I wasn’t super disappointed with our offense.”
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