Riders take on Titans in Western Buckeye League showdown.
It is Ottawa- Glandorf week for St. Marys athletics while the New Knoxville girls basketball team looks to stay undefeated in a Midwest Athletic Conference tilt with Versailles on Thursday.
Here is a rundown of this weekend’s games.
ST. MARYS vs. OTTAWA- GLANDORF
Girls: The Roughriders (5-1, 2- 0 WBL) have the best six-game start to a season since the 2016-17 season and will face their biggest test of the season against the Titans (7- 0, 1- 0). O- G has scored at least 60 points in four games this season and is averaging 58.1 points per game compared to allowing 30.4. The closest game of the season was a 48-39 win against Spencervile.
The Titans enter Thursday’s matchup with a 38-game Western Buckeye League winning streak with their last loss coming Feb. 4, 2016 against Wapakoneta.
Thursday’s game is also one that coach Jon Burke has said he would like to see his team avenge previous losses against the Titans. More particularly is the Rid
ers two-point defeat the last time these two teams met at Memorial High School.
“We’ve lost to O-G by two points [in a meeting two years ago], who’s won the WBL the last two years, and we’ve lost to Wapak and Bath the last two years so we
would like to avenge those losses,” Burke said earlier in the season.
In that game, the Roughriders trailed by just one, 42- 41 when Lauren Cisco hit a 3-pointer with 26 sec
onds remaining, but a free throw by Ashley Schroeder ended the game at 43- 41.
In last season’s matchup, the Roughriders took an undefeated Titans team to the fourth quarter tied at 36-36 on the road, but the Titans ended the game on a 9- 0 run and outscored the Roughriders 21- 6 in the final eight minutes.
St. Marys has lost just four games, going 21-3, since losing to Ottawa- Glandorf. The Titans, meanwhile, have won 21 consecutive games.
Boys: The Roughriders boys basketball team concludes their four- game road trip on Friday at Ottawa. St. Marys (3-1, 1- 0 WBL) and the Titans (3-1, 1- 0 WBL enter Friday’s game with identical records as the Roughriders are hoping to rebound from last year’s disappointing loss to the Titans at home.
In last year’s matchup, St. Marys shot just 16% from the floor in the second half after shooting 61% in the first half with a 25-24 lead.
Turnovers also played a role in the loss as the Roughriders committed four turnovers in the final 2:00 of the third quarter, leading to O- G’s 9- 0 run -- with two of those miscues resulting in six O- G points.
Compared to last season where the Roughriders won their first three games by 34, 20 and 16 points, St. Marys has won their games by a much closer margin this season, including an eight-point season-opening victory against Fort Recovery, a three-point win off Jadin Davis’ game-winning 3-pointer and a four-point win last week against rival Wapakoneta.
Finishing strong has been the motto, however, for St. Marys and their wins this season.
Against Fort Recovery, the Riders closed the game out with an 8- 0 run, followed by Davis’ buzzer-beating heroics the next night against Marion Local and a pair of free throws in the final seconds by Gavin Reineke against Wapakoneta that helped seal the game.
Those moments have shown how far the program has come in a little more than a year with its ability to win games late, unlike what the program has witnessed in the past.
Wrestling: The Roughriders (2- 0 WBL) have won seven straight league dual matches as they travel to Ottawa on Thursday. The Titans are 0-1 this season, losing 48-21 to Elida last week.
NEW KNOXVILLE vs. VERSAILLES
Girls: New Knoxville is off to its best start in years with its 5- 0 record and hopes to continue that trend on Thursday as it hosts Versailles (2- 6, 1-2 MAC).
As usual, the defense has led the way for the Rangers (5- 0, 2- 0) by limiting opponents to fewer than 40 points in four of the five games this season and in two of those four games, opponents have scored fewer than 30 points.
“I am somewhat satisfied with my defense,” Rangers coach Tim Hegemier said following Saturday’s win against Anna. “There are a few breakdowns but you won’t always be perfect.”
But in the win-loss columns, New Knoxville remains perfect and senior Morgan Leffel has led the charge for that early-season success. Featured with a 20-point effort against St. Marys on Dec. 5, Leffel is averaging 14 points per game through the first five games of the season.
“Early in the season, she was kind of missing them [layups], but I think she is getting a little bit healthier,” Hegemier said. “She’s really stepped up and playing really well and that’s what we’ve got to have.”
Boys: Despite one fewer win through five games of the season under first-year head coach Cole Fischbach compared to last season, the New Knoxville boys basketball team has been much more competitive in games this year.
Last season through five games, the Rangers were 2-3 but of those three losses, two were by a combined 94 points, including a 55-point loss to Anna, 94-39.
And while the Rangers (1- 4, 0-1) did lose by 42 in their season opener to the Rockets, but the Rangers lost by just three to Allen East a week later and 13 points to Fort Loramie and trailed by only six at the half in last week’s game to Coldwater.
Friday’s game against Versailles, however, could be a perfect matchup for the Rangers. The Tigers come in 1-3 overall and 0-2 in MAC play while Saturday’s game against Temple Christian is an opponent who has not won a game this season.
Aside from what could be a tough matchup before Christmas against St. Marys, New Knoxville has a schedule it can work with heading into the new year as the team looks much improved from last year.
NEW BREMEN vs. ST. HENRY
Girls: The Cardinals (1-3, 0-2 MAC) are off to their slowest start to a season since the 2016-17 campaign that saw New Bremen begin 1- 4.
St. Henry, however, is off to an even slower start with a 0-3, 0-1 record.
Slow starts to games have hurt the Cardinals, including the season opener against Fort Recovery where New Bremen trailed 26-15 at the half and lost 44- 40.
New Bremen was outscored 31-22 through the first two quarters before falling 56- 48 against Minster and Delphos Jefferson last Saturday jumped out to a 21-18 halftime lead to win 48- 39. The storyline in that game, however, was a 12- 4 third-quarter outsourcing by the Wildcats.
The Cardinals’ lone win against Lincolnview included a 29-21 halftime lead for New Bremen, who ended the game with a 23-9 fourth- quarter advantage.
Elli Roetgerman is leading the team with 14.3 points per game and is averaging 8.5 rebounds per game, followed by Kaylee Freund with 13.8 ppg and Madison Cordonnier with 9.5 points per game, including a season-high 13 points against Minster.
Boys: New Bremen received a huge boost in its thrilling overtime win against Fort Loramie last week. Scoring has not been a major strength for the Cardinals, who are averaging just 36.6 points per game, but the defense is limiting teams to 37.6 ppg and 31 ppg in their two wins.
The team is led by Reece Busse who is averaging 15.3 ppg, followed by David Homan with 8.3 ppg.
MINSTER vs. DELPHOS ST. JOHN’S
Girls: Both teams have the same number of wins to open the season with three, but the Wildcats (3-1, 2- 0 MAC) are beating MAC teams by a combined 123-75. Look for Minster to try to slow down St. John’s (3-3, 1-1) Paige Gaynier, who hit five 3-pointers in a loss to Coldwater in the team’s conference opener.
Boys: The boys basketball game has been postponed with no rescheduled date set yet.