Defensive pressure key to Wildcats’ win
MINSTER — Good first half shooting from Minster separated the Wildcats from St. Marys on Tuesday night as they earned a 44-40 win in non-conference action.
After a lengthy first possession, Minster’s Katie McClurg started the game off with a made 3-pointer from the right wing against St. Marys 2-3 zone.
Kendall Dieringer answered with a 3 of her own from the top of the key to tie it back up.
Later, a short corner jumper by Ella Mescher put Minster up 10-6 and then Lilly Barhorst scored in the paint to make it 12-6.
On the other end, Noelle Ruane nailed a three from the left side to make it 12-9. Mescher answered that by scoring on the right block to make it 14-9 with 1:50 left in the opening quarter.
Barhorst closed out the quarter banking one in from the paint and the Wildcats led 16-9 after one.
“A big part of the game was our start. That’s not how we started the last couple nights,” said Wildcats coach Mike Wiss. “Against Marion Local and Tri-Village last week, our first quarters were not very good. Today it was. We hit a couple of shots early.”
Dieringer scored first for the Roughriders in the second and a pair of free throws by Karsyn McGlothen got St. Marys back into it at 16-14.
McClurg hit her third threepointer of the game to put the Wildcats back up by five and later a pair of free throws by Mescher made it 20-14.
Ruane answered with a threepointer from the right wing to make it 21-17 but Kaycie Albers answered for Minster with her own 3 to make it 24-17.
St. Marys scored twice in a row with Ella Jacobs hitting a jumper from the left corner and Dieringer making a layup on a nice drive.
Near the end of the half, Mescher stole the ball near half-court and raced down for a layup and was fouled on the play. She hit the free throw to give Minster a 10-point lead heading into the half.
In the second half, Minster tied its biggest lead of the game after Mescher hit a pair of free throws to go up 36-26.
Jacobs answered for the Roughriders with a short jumper to
to put the Wildcats up 15-5.
St. Henry’s Jalynn Everman tacked on a free throw at the end of the quarter to make it 15-6 heading into the second.
It was more of the same in the second quarter for the Wildcats.
Morgan Sparks scored her first two points of the game with a short jumper and on the next trip down the floor, Sparks hit a three from the right wing to let the Wildcats go up 20-6.
Later, Barhorst scored in the paint and then McClurg hit her second three of the game to put Minster up 25-6 and forcing St. Henry to call a timeout.
Following the break St. Henry scored two in a row to make it 25-8, but Minster had the answers. Barhorst scored in transition, McClurg hit a nice left-hand layup and then McClurg hit a three from near the top of the key to put the Wildcats up 32-10.
St. Henry added two before halftime and Minster led 32-12 at the break.
The Wildcats kept it up in the third quarter with Kaycie Albers drilling a 3-pointer from straightaway to start the second half.
Then, Mescher stole the ball on a St. Henry in-bounds play and raced for a layup to put Minster up by 23.
With 5:36 left, McClurg stole the ball near half-court and was fouled on her ensuing layup try. She hit both free throws and the Wildcats led by 25. St. Henry called timeout with 5:17 left.
“I wanted to see if we could force them to call a timeout in the first couple minutes of the third quarter,” Wiss said, wanting his team to keep up the intensity. “Even though the score was what it was at halftime, to still have the intensity — I thought we accomplished that.”
The rest of the quarter was more of the same with Albers tallying her third three-pointer of the quarter with 20 seconds left and the Wildcats led 51-23 heading into the fourth.
Minster managed seven points and St. Henry scored five points in the fourth and the Wildcats went home with the 5830 win.
The Wildcats hit seven three-pointers on Thursday and shot 69% from the free throw line, going 11-for-16.
“One thing we tried to do — we made more free throws than the opponent shot. That’s an important stat in our locker room,” said Wiss.
Coming off two losses last week against ranked teams, the Wildcats have found a groove of sorts, earning the 28-point win on Thursday and knocking off St. Marys at home on Tuesday.
“That’s two in a row where we’ve played pretty well,” said Wiss. “One thing I ask every team to do is start playing your best at the end of January. The tournament draws happen to be Sunday.”
The win puts Minster at 5-2 in the Midwest Athletic Conference and 11-7 overall.
Wiss commented on the tough schedule the Wildcats have played this season, saying that’s how he likes it.
“I had a coach tell me they would not want our schedule. I responded with the words “We do,’” said Wiss. “Twenty years ago, that was the last thing on my mind, it was just play good basketball. Now, I want to play good basketball, but I want to play good teams. I don’t care what our record is. Entering the tournament ... I want to have seen every thing we can possibly have seen when tournament comes around, so our mind, we’re tournament-ready.”
Score by quarters
St. Henry 6 6 11 7 — 30
Minster 15 17 19 7 — 58