Leipsic’s Kyrsten Martinez defends a shot by Myah Boggs of Delphos St. John’s during a Saturday Division IV sectional final at Bluffton University. See more high school basketball photos at LimaScores.com.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
BLUFFTON – Longtime Leipsic girls basketball head coach Gary Kreinbrink was pleased with his team’s 47-37 victory over Delphos St. John’s in the first of two Division IV girls basketball sectional finals played Saturday at Bluffton University.
However, Kreinbrink wasn’t completely satisfied.
Leipsic got out to a commanding lead, early on, then held off St. John’s in the fourth quarter for the 10-point win.
In the nightcap, Columbus Grove ran away from Pandora-Gilboa for a convincing 55-18 win.
Leipsic (21-2) will face Columbus Grove (15-8) in a district semifinal Thursday at Ottawa-Glandorf. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. P-G ends its season, 2-20.
Ava Henry led Leipsic on Saturday with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Henry also came away with six rebounds and four assists. Marisa Hermiller had 10 points, including two 3-pointers. Hermiller had five boards and two steals. Kyrsten Martinez had nine points, on three 3-pointers. Whitney Langhals had seven points, six boards, four assists and two steals for the Vikings.
“They were playing a box-and-one on Langhals,” Kreinbrink said. “So, we had planned on going to an overload situation, which we did. When Ava Henry caught fire early in the corners, they didn’t have enough players to guard everybody. So, they got out of that. We, uncharacteristically, though, didn’t play great after that. We made some bad live-ball turnover plays. We had more turnovers than I would have liked. But we’re never going to say that a tournament win is not a good tournament win.”
Emma Will led Delphos St. John’s (6-18) and all scorers with 19 points, including two 3-pointers. Will also had seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
In the first quarter Saturday, Leipsic made five 3-pointers, while St. John’s connected twice from long distance. Henry knocked down three 3-pointers in the first eight minutes for the Vikings
After the contest was knotted twice, early on, Leipsic pulled out to an 18-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Leipsic led 30-17 at the halftime break.
Henry led the Vikings and all scorers with 14 first-half points, including four 3-pointers.
Leipsic was 11 of 23 shooting from the field in the first half for 52 percent. St. John’s ended the half, connecting on 8 of 20 shots for 40 percent.
Will led the Blue Jays with 11 first-half points.
St. John’s came out strong in the second half.
St. John’s cut it to 9, 32 -23, on a 3-pointer by Myah Boggs (five points, four boards) at the 1:20 mark of the third.
However, the Vikings responded and pulled out to a 37-23 advantage by the third stop.
St. John’s made a total of seven 3-pointers on the night, while Leipsic connected nine times behind the arc.
“That’s what they (St. John’s) do. … They are a 3-point shooting team,” Kreinbrink said. “We got caught a couple times on the screens. But for the most part, we did OK. Both of their juniors, Will and (Abby) Kerner (six points, five boards) are really good players. They can shoot and they can get to the rim.”
For the game, Leipsic shot 43 percent from the field. St. John’s connected on 30 percent of its field goal attempts.
Leipsic turned the ball over 12 times on the night. St. John’s committed 11 turnovers.
Leipsic controlled the boards, 33-22.
“It was a challenge,” Kreinbrink said. “Their record might not say it, but they’re a lot better than their record indicates.
“We have to get better. … We have to keep working. We know we’re going to play a really good team on Thursday. We’ve been a little bit sluggish down the stretch (of the regular season). So, we need to get our mojo back.”
Columbus Grove 55,
Pandora-Gilboa 18
Columbus Grove jumped out on the Rockets and never looked back.
Lauryn Auchmuty led Columbus Grove and all scorers with 26 points, including four 3-pointers. The 5-foot-7 sophomore guard had 18 points by the halftime break. Brynn Fortman and Jaylen Sautter added nine and eight points, respectively, for the Bulldogs.
Maddie Rutschilling led the Rockets with seven points.
Columbus Grove led 19-5 at the end of the first quarter, and 31-10 at the halftime break. The Bulldogs shut down the Rockets in the third quarter, 7-0, to pull out to a 38-10 lead.
“Lauryn (Auchmuty) was huge,” Columbus Grove head coach Brian Schroeder said. “I think she had double digits in the first quarter, to get us a comfortable lead.”
Mark Altstaetter wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
