St. Marys’ Morgan Hesse (left) and Shawnee’s Brynn Patterson (center) and Isabella Hile battle for a loose ball during Thursday night’s game at Shawnee. See more high school basketball photos at LimaScores.com.
Don Speck | The Lima News
SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP – Thursday’s key Western Buckeye League girls basketball game between Shawnee and St. Marys was not an offensive display, to say the least.
However, St. Marys made enough plays in the second half to hold off Shawnee for a hard-fought 44-33 victory at Lappin Gymnasium.
Both teams came into Thursday’s contest tied for second place in the WBL, behind first-place Ottawa-Glandorf.
Cora Rable led St. Marys (11-6, 5-1 WBL) with 14 points, including 9 of 10 shooting from the free throw line. Rable also came away with four rebounds and two steals. Ella Jacobs had 10 points and a game-high 11 boards for the Roughriders.
Grace Freiberger led Shawnee (7-8, 4-2 WBL) and all scorers with 16 points. The 5-foot-7 junior guard came away with eight rebounds and three steals. Ania Pearson had nine points, 10 rebounds, a block and two assists for the Indians.
For the game, St. Marys shot 29 percent from the field. Shawnee made 26 percent of its field goal attempts.
However, from the free throw line, the Roughriders made 15 of 19 (79 percent) on the night. In the fourth quarter, St. Marys was 10 of 13 from the charity stripe.
Cora Rable was 7 of 8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
“Cora Rable saved us down the stretch,” St. Marys assistant coach Scott Jordan said. “That sealed the game – knocking down free throws down the stretch. … That was huge.”
St. Marys head coach Jon Burke was not at Thursday’s game, due to a personal matter.
Both teams struggled at the offensive end.
St. Marys claimed the early advantage, and went on to notch an 8-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Both teams were 2 of 11 shooting from the field in the first eight minutes.
By the halftime break, the Roughriders were clinging to a 15-13 lead.
In the first half, Shawnee was 4 of 22 from the floor for 18-percent shooting. St. Marys connected on 5 of 25 of its field goal attempts for 20-percent shooting.
Jacobs led the Roughriders with six first-half points and six rebounds. Freiberger led the Indians with five points and five boards.
The Roughriders opened the second half on a 9-2 run and pulled out to a 24-15 lead. Morgan Hesse (five points, 10 boards) had two field goals and Reagan Allemeier (five points) had a key 3-pointer in that spurt by St. Marys.
The Roughriders led 30-26 at the end of the third quarter. Their largest lead was 10, 27-17.
Shawnee battled back.
At the 6:36 mark of the fourth quarter, Freiberger hit two free throws to knot the contest, 30-30.
However, the Roughriders’ defensive pressure helped cause several Shawnee turnovers down the stretch, which turned into easy baskets for St. Marys.
“We went to a zone for a lot of the game,” Coach Jordan said. “We switched over to man, later in the game and got some turnovers. … It helped build our confidence a little bit.”
St. Marys outscored Shawnee 14-7 in the final eight minutes. The Roughriders scored 10 of those fourth-quarter points at the free throw line.
Shawnee committed 16 turnovers, while St. Marys turned it over 14 times on the night.
The Roughriders won the battle on the boards, 36-31.
Jordan felt like his team’s defensive pressure was a key, especially on Shawnee’s two best players.
“Those two were the keys, Freiberger and Pearson,” Jordan said. “She (Freiberger) was able to get to the line quite a bit, but we were able to control and contain her. Pearson was really tough on the boards, but she didn’t do a whole lot on the scoreboard.
“We did a good job on the boards, outside of Pearson. She’s tall and tough to box out. She has long arms, and she’s really aggressive in there.”
Mark Altstaetter wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
