HAMLER – After losing one of its key starters for the season, and then losing another one for a month-and-a-half, longtime Bath girls head basketball coach Greg Mauk knew his squad needed to play smart.
However, playing smart did not mean that Mauk’s team wasn’t going to play hard.
In Monday’s Division II sectional final at Patrick Henry High School, Bath’s zone defense smothered Shawnee for most of the night, en route to a hard-fought 36-29 victory over Shawnee.
With the win, Bath (19-5) will face St. Marys (18-6) Thursday in a district semifinal at Paulding. Tip-off is set for around 7:30 p.m.
St. Marys defeated Bryan (18-5) in Monday’s second sectional final at Patrick Henry, 39-29.
“We did it (played zone this season) as much out of necessity as we did for strategy, because we don’t go deep (off the bench),” Mauk said. “After Lexi Renner tore her ACL and was out for the season, we had to find a way to survive these situations. … And you saw at the end of the game what some of those situations are.
“I’m so proud of our kids. I never had a team that has had this much adversity. We lost two starters going into our fourth game of the year. … Along with Renner being out, Elena (Oliver) did not play for 6 ½ weeks; and our kids really came together.”
Not only did Bath’s defensive pressure step up Monday night, but senior Ava Craddock stepped up in a big way at the offensive end. After scoring just three points in the first half, Craddock poured in 14 second-half points to lead the way for the Wildkittens.
Craddock ended the night with 17 points, including two 3-pointers. She also was 7 of 8 shooting from the free throw line, and came away with five rebounds.
“The thing about Ava is, she is just a great kid and a great leader too,” Mauk said. “She works so hard on her game.”
Rachel Clark had eight points, five rebounds and two steals for Bath. Teammate Elena Oliver added seven points and two boards for the Wildkittens.
Zoe Best led Shawnee (22-2) with 14 points, including two 3-pointers. Best also had four rebounds and two steals.
In the regular season, Shawnee defeated Bath, 42-38.
Monday night, Bath’s sticky zone defense wreaked havoc on Shawnee, especially early in the game.
Shawnee was shut out in the first quarter, 5-0.
Early on, both teams struggled at the offensive end.
Bath was 1 of 6 shooting from the field, while Shawnee was 0 of 5 from the floor.
Shawnee finally got on the scoreboard at the 7:41 mark of the second quarter, on a 3-pointer by Tessa Stahler (six points on two 3-pointers), cutting it to 5-3.
By the halftime break, Bath’s lead was 14-11.
Best led the Indians in the first half with five points. Elena Oliver led the Wildkittens with seven markers.
Shawnee was 3 of 14 shooting from the field in the first half, while Bath was 3 of 13 from the floor.
Shawnee began to find its range, early in the second half.
Shawnee’s first lead of the game came at the six-minute mark of the third quarter, 15-14, on a layup by Best.
By the end of the third quarter, the score was knotted, 25-25.
Best poured in seven third-quarter points. Craddock scored 11 points in the third for Bath.
Craddock felt like it was up to her to jump-start the team in the second half.
“When I walked out of the locker room (after halftime), he (Coach Mauk) said, ‘Ava, let’s go’. So, I knew I had to come out and hit some shots,” Craddock said with a grin.
Bath picked it up in the fourth quarter; and Craddock picked up right where she left off.
Craddock canned a 3-pointer from the left corner to push Bath out to a 30-25 lead, just a little more than a minute into the final stanza.
In the final eight minutes, the Wildkittens made every shot attempt count, as they pulled away for the victory. Bath was 4 for 4 from the field in the final stanza.
For the game, Shawnee shot 29 percent from the field. Bath connected on 33 percent of its field goal attempts.
Shawnee turned the ball over nine times on the night, while Bath committed 15 turnovers.
Bath controlled the boards, 27-17.
On the night, Bath made 12 of 16 shots from the free throw line for 75-percent shooting. Shawnee, on the other hand, made it to the free throw line on just one occasion, going 0 for 2 at the charity stripe.
“Our kids have done a really good job of keeping themselves out of foul trouble, because they’re all so important to our success,” Mauk said. “If we get into foul trouble, then we have to do things differently.”
St. Marys 39, Bryan 29
It was a tightly-contested game for four quarters.
The score was knotted up at 8-8 at the end of the first quarter.
St. Marys went into the halftime break with a slim 17-14 advantage over Bryan (18-5).
The Roughriders picked it up in the third quarter and pushed their lead to 33-23 by the third stop.
For the game, Cora Rable led St. Marys will 11 points. Kendall Dieringer and Noelle Ruane each added six points for the Roughriders.
“We came out in the third quarter, controlled the ball well, and got some shots knocked down,” St. Marys head coach Jon Burke said.
“Obviously, they (Bryan) were trying to take away Kendall Dieringer and Noelle Ruane, and they did a heck of a job. But give credit to our poise down the stretch. That was a tough Bryan team. To beat them twice in one season is tough to do.”
Burke said that there aren’t many secrets between his program and Bath’s. During the regular season, St. Marys lost to Bath by a point.
“This is my fifth year of coaching,” Burke said. “Every year that we played Bath has either been an overtime game, or a one-point game. It’s a fight every time. We know each other really well. They’re well-coached, and well-prepared. We’re excited about the matchup, but we know we have our work cut out for us.”
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