Claire Foust, of Bath, goes up for a shot against Shawnee’s Anna Menke and Grace Freiberger during Thursday’s game at Bath High School.
BATH TOWNSHIP – Longtime Bath girls basketball coach Greg Mauk saw it coming.
On Dec. 4, when Bath held off a very strong Sidney team to win in overtime, 69-65, Mauk began to realize the potential in this year’s squad.
In Thursday’s key Western Buckeye League matchup against visiting Shawnee, Bath was in control throughout the contest, en route to a convincing 60-33 victory over Shawnee.
With the win, Bath improves to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the WBL. Shawnee slips to 3-3 in all games and 1-1 in league play.
“We meshed in the Sidney game,” Mauk said. “The Sidney game – it was like this group came together. … It was a battle. The group just seemed to pull tighter and tighter together. But that’s the kind of kids they are. They don’t care who gets the credit.”
On Thursday, Bath had four players score in double figures.
Anne Oliver (6-foot, senior, forward) led Bath with 21 points, including five 3-pointers. Oliver also came away with four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
Claire Foust (6-foot-1, senior, center) scored 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the field. Foust also pulled down 12 rebounds.
Kelsie Carlson had 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Izzy McDermott added 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
Bath was without the services of freshman guard Mara Davis on Thursday, who is out with an injury. However, the rest of the team stepped up to fill the void.
“Izzy McDermott has been coming off the bench for us,” Mauk said. “Izzy has played really well for us ever since the Sidney game. She came off the bench in the Sidney game and had 19 points. So, we didn’t miss a beat (Thursday) because of the things she did tonight.”
McDermott started Thursday night.
Grace Freiberger led Shawnee and all scorers on Thursday with 22 points, including two 3-pointers. Freiberger also made four steals and dished out three assists. Freiberger, who will be playing volleyball at the University of Toledo next school year, came into Thursday’s contest averaging 22.3 points per outing.
Mauk praised the defensive effort of Faith Clark, a 5-foot-3 junior guard, who had the assignment of guarding Freiberger Thursday night. Clark did not score. However, she put forth a stellar defensive effort.
“They (Freiberger’s points) were all earned because Faith was after her the whole game,” Mauk said. “Faith did a great job of guarding Freiberger. Freiberger is one of the premier players in the league. She (Freiberger) is a really good player. Faith (Clark) had six assists, one rebound, and she had to guard Freiberger the whole game. She was in her face the whole game. … She just goes 110 percent.”
Mauk also praised the performance of Carlson, a sophomore forward.
“(Carlson) had 13 points and zero turnovers. She was always in the right spot, defensively, to help when Freiberger went to the basket. She did so many things, so well. I’m really proud of her. She has really come along,” Mauk said.
Bath pulled out to a 15-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Wildkittens extended their lead to 23, 33-10, by the halftime break. At the end of three quarters of action, Bath led 47-28.
For the game, Bath connected on 58 percent of its field goal attempts. Shawnee shot 35 percent from the field.
Shawnee committed 18 turnovers. Bath turned the ball over 17 times, including nine in the third quarter.
Bath won the battle on the boards, 23-14.
Mauk liked the defensive effort of his team on Thursday. He reflected on the progression of Foust and Oliver, the two tallest players on his team.
“Those two girls (Foust and Oliver) have come in here and learned to play tough man-to-man defense,” Mauk said. “They came up in the program (middle school) playing zone because they have the height. Those two kids have really come a long way in that respect.”
Bath 60, Shawnee 33
Shawnee 6 4 18 5 – 33
Bath 15 18 14 13 – 60
Shawnee
Kamryn Morris 5, Morgan Betts 4, Alexis Whetstone 2, Grace Freiberger 22. Totals: 13-5-33.
Bath
Marline Mason 2, Claire Foust 14, Kelsie Carlson 13, Izzy McDermott 10, Anne Oliver 21. Totals: 23-6-60.
3-pointers made: Shawnee – Grace Freiberger 2; Bath – Kelsie Carlson 1, Izzy McDermott 2, Anne Oliver 5.
Records: Bath 5-0, 2-0 WBL; Shawnee 3-3, 1-1 WBL.
