Bath finishes WBL play alone in 2nd

BATH TOWNSHIP – Bath got off to a solid start in the first half of Thursday’s key Western Buckeye League girls basketball matchup against visiting St. Marys.

St. Marys had a good start in the second half.

However, St. Marys dug itself too big of a deficit, as Bath led from start to finish, en route to a 45-35 victory over the Roughriders.

Thursday’s matchup between Bath and St. Marys was for sole possession of second place in the Western Buckeye League. Ottawa-Glandorf had already clinched the WBL title.

Anne Oliver led Bath (18-4, 7-2 WBL) and all scorers with 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting from the field. Elena Oliver had 10 points, including two 3-pointers. Rachel Clark had eight points, including two 3-pointers for the Wildkittens.

“I thought they (St. Marys) had a good start in the second half,” longtime Bath head coach Greg Mauk said. “I think they scored on four or five straight possessions. They got good shots against us – that they weren’t getting, early on. That might have been a product of us (defensively). … I’m not sure. They got off to the good start in the second half, like we did in the first half.”

Reese Rable led St. Marys (12-10, 6-3 WBL) with 10 points, including two 3-pointers, all coming in the third quarter. Teammate Ella Jacobs added eight points and four boards.

Bath jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. Rachel Clark hit a 3-pointer in the opening moments for the Wildkittens.

Bath pulled out to a 10-4 lead by the end of the first quarter.

St. Marys struggled in the first eight minutes, connecting on just 1 of 8 shot attempts from the field.

The Wildkittens outscored the Roughriders 9-2 in the second quarter as they pulled out to a 19-6 advantage by the halftime break.

St. Marys was just 2 of 15 shooting from the field in the first half. Bath connected on 8 of 26 shots from the floor.

The Roughriders turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, including seven miscues in the second quarter.

Anne Oliver led Bath with eight first-half points.

Both teams began to find their range in the third quarter.

The Wildkittens connected on 8 of 9 shots from the field in the third as they eventually pulled out to a 40-21 lead by the third stop. The Roughriders were 6 of 11 shooting from the floor as they connected often, early in the second half.

Reese Rable poured in 10 third-quarter points on 4 of 5 shooting for St. Marys.

For the game, Bath shot 47 percent from the field. After a very sluggish start, St. Marys ended the night shooting 41 percent from the floor.

Bath held a 24-18 edge on the boards.

St. Marys turned the ball over 14 times on the night, while Bath committed 11 turnovers.

“We actually talked about that back in the locker room – wanting to win the loose-ball battle and the rebound battle,” Mauk said. “It’s always like that against them, because they are going to battle you for every possession. You have to come up with those 50/50 balls and those 50/50 rebounds against St. Marys.”

Mauk was particularly pleased with the performance of Anne Oliver, a 6-foot junior center.

“She was our rock tonight,” Mauk said. “She was composed and under control.”

St. Marys head coach Jon Burke pointed to his team’s sluggish first half as the key to the game.

“We weren’t penetrating and we weren’t getting the ball into the paint in the first half,” Burke said. “We were just kind of sitting back. When we got the ball to the wing, we didn’t let our players get to the positions that they needed to be in. … We kind of rushed.

“After halftime, I thought we were penetrating a little bit better. We started to get into the paint and our guards started to look to drive a little more. I thought in the first half, we kind of settled a little bit.”

Mark Altstaetter wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.