Shelby Lady Whippets conclude season as sectional finalist
Shelby Lady Whippets’ season came to an end with a tough 62-52 loss to Toledo Central Catholic on Saturday night in Shelby.
The Division 2 northwest sectional championship pitted No. 3 seed Shelby (18-6), hosting sixth seed Toledo Central Catholic (17-6).
The Lady Whippets battled to the end, but a few big shots by Central Catholic fell and rattled out for the Lady Whippets.
Shelby head coach Natalie Lantz spoke about playing a quality opponent in sectional play.
“Tough loss, but man, we battled,” she said. “That was most definitely a regional quality game. TCC is the best skilled and athletic combo team we’ve played this season, bar none.
“It’s a game that, if we knock down a few more shots, we win. The growth of our team has been awesome this year,” Lantz said, “and we were playing our best ball when we needed to at the end.”
Lantz added: “We are incredibly proud of our girls’ effort. We knew it’d be a tough game but if we put all the pieces together in one great effort, it was a winnable game.
“They got the roll on their shots, ours rolled out,” she said. “It’s the nature of the game and what makes tourney time so special. Our plan for the tourney was if we were gonna go down, we were gonna go down swinging and playing Shelby basketball. We did that. “
The Lady Whippets played with great energy for 32 minutes, Lantz said.
“What’s crazy is our sectional final game was a regional-level quality game,” she said. “That shows just how good and how tough our team is, despite the loss. Most top teams’ sectional final level have weak opponents. Our district is tougher than most regions.”
Coach Lantz said that she loves “that we have great teams in our district” but that “makes it that much more tough to get out.”
The turning point of the game came midway through the third quarter.
Shelby took a 29-28 lead after Lexi Booker hit a layup after a nice pass from Serena Ramsey with 5:57 left in the third. Toledo Central Catholic then went on a three-point barrage, knocking down four three-pointers in the next four minutes.
The Irish hit a three, scored on two offensive rebounds and drained another three to take a 37-29 lead.
After Sarah Reiser swished a three to cut the lead to 37-32, Central Catholic hit another three and scored on another offensive rebound to raise their lead to 42-32.
Mallary Gundrum scored on a layup, but Corniya Clay swished her second three of the quarter to put the Irish up 45-34 with 1:05 left in the third stanza.
Shelby responded with the final two buckets of the quarter, the last on a buzzer-beater by Maggie Bogner to close the lead to 45-36.
Shelby quickly cut the lead to 45-40 after Ramsey put back an offensive rebound, but Clay knocked down another three to push the lead to eight. Shelby never got closer than eight points the remainder of the game.
Shelby did hold a 21-15 midway through the second quarter, after Charlie Niese drained a three-pointer, but Central Catholic responded by outscoring Shelby 11-2 to end the first with a 26-23 lead.
Lantz spoke about the pivotal second and third quarters.
“Second quarter we put some solid possessions together on both ends of the court, which turned into a six-point lead,” she said.
“We knew TCC is a quick strike team, and we had a couple defensive slips that put them up three at the half. Even with 11 turnovers in the first half, we felt like we were in a good position. Third quarter, they made a couple tough shots, then knocked down 5/6 3’s which hurt.”
“We fought back several times. Our girls did everything we asked.”
The Lady Whippets end their season with an 18-6 record, winning their sixth consecutive MOAC championship.
Eve Schwemley had the hot hand for Shelby, scorching the nets for a game-high 26 points.
“Eve Schwemley got us rolling and played an excellent all-around game. She was hands down the best player on the court. She led us offensively and defensively and constantly had a tough assignment. She’s a dawg, tough as they come,” Lantz said about her Allohio junior.
Serena Ramsey also hit double-digits in scoring, knocking down 10 points and grabbing a team-high five rebounds. Reiser and Niese both hit three-pointers; Niese also fished out four assists.
Maggie Bogner, Lexi Booker, Mallary Gundrum, Sophia Long and Lexi Mohn all scored two points for the Lady Whippets.
Shelby says goodbye to four seniors who played their last game for Shelby, Bogner, Booker, Gundrum and Reiser.
Lantz spoke of her four seniors.
“Our defense on their D-1 forward was outstanding,” Lantz said. “We thought senior Lexi Booker did a great job of forcing difficult shots and keeping her off the boards.”
Shelby senior Sarah Reiser also came in, playing physical and smart, and knocking down a big three-point shot, Lantz said.
“Senior Mal Gundrum made some big plays for us and had some great rotations and defensive hedges to create tough shots for them,” the coach said.
“Senior Maggie Bogner was once again exceptional on D,” Lantz said. “She played scrappy and put a ton of pressure” on Central Catholic’s point guard, who Lantz described as a “stellar triple threat guard.”
“These four seniors have been excellent leaders all year and have been so much fun to coach,” Lantz said. “We hate losing, knowing that’s the last time we get to coach these girls. It’s been a blessing to have four great kids who lead well, have fun, play hard and play for each other.”
“They are true Lady Whippets hoopers. I absolutely love them,” she said. “We couldn’t be more proud of them. We will certainly miss them.”
Lantz also wanted to give a shout-out to the boisterous Shelby crowd.
“Our Shelby fans and student section were awesome… they brought so much energy!! We are so grateful for their support all season, especially tonight,” she said.