Ottawa-Glandorf’s Kaelyn Grothause attempts a shot against Margaretta’s Raegan Heck (center) and Jaelle Keller during Saturday night’s Division III regional final at the Elida Fieldhouse. See more high school basketball photos at LimaScores.com.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
Castalia Margaretta learned from adversity and used that experience when it beat Ottawa-Glandorf 36-30 in the championship game of the Division III Elida girls basketball regional on Saturday night.
Margaretta played 17 games this season without its best player, Kylie Leibacher, after she broke a bone in her leg.
So when Leibacher fouled out on a charging call with Ottawa-Glandorf leading 27-26 with 4:56 left in the game, the Bears didn’t panic, they prospered.
O-G bumped its lead up to 29-26 but scored only one point in the final 3 ½ minutes of the game while Margaretta clinched the trip to the state tournament that was on the line.
“That was huge,” Margaretta coach Ray Neill said about his team’s reaction after Leibacher left the game.
“We didn’t back down. There was no fear. They were ready to step up and make shots and they were ready to bang on the defensive end and go grab rebounds. She got us here with her performance Thursday night (28 points in a 53-52 regional semifinal win over Harvest Prep) and her sisters got it done tonight.”
Raegan Heck’s 10 points led Margaretta (22-6). Lilly Edwards had 9 points and Leibacher totaled 7 points. Katie Kaufman had 12 points to lead O-G (23-4).
The Titans struggled offensively all night, hitting 23 percent on field goals (8 of 34) and 10 percent (2 of 20) on 3-pointers, but never more than in the first half when they were held to eight points and trailed 15-8 after two quarters.
Margaretta pushed its lead to 19-8 with back-to-back buckets to start the second half. O-G battled back to take the lead but couldn’t match the Bears’ post-Leibacher efforts.
“We played a heck of a game defensively. Offensively, we couldn’t get shots to drop. Credit to them. For most of the game it was evident they were hungry. It just felt like they were hungrier than we were,” Ottawa-Glandorf coach Troy Yant said.
“It wasn’t from lack of effort. We just couldn’t get the shots to drop. Obviously, the girls wanted this game. I think it was just a matter of trying to get focused, trying to match their intensity with what they were doing.
“Credit to our girls for fighting back. We haven’t put up eight points in a half in I don’t know how long.”
“I guess hope is not really a strategy but I was pretty hopeful when we tied the game and took the lead. I felt like we were finally getting some traction with what what we were trying to do. But every time we took a lead they came back and hit a nice shot. They had some really clutch shots. When they really needed a bucket they got one. When we came down to the other end we missed.
“Obviously, when the other team’s best player fouls out and you’re in a tie game or up by one you feel you’ve got a chance,” he said.
O-G’s last lead was at 29-26 on a 15-footer by Kaelyn Grothause. Margaretta answered with a 3-pointer by Heck to tie the game at 29-29, went ahead 31-29 on a 10-footer by Edwards, then scored its final five points at the free throw line.
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Reach Jim Naveau at 567-242-0451.
