Wildcats ground Rockets in defensive battle Saturday Wildcats compete in Bellefontaine Tuesday
The Minster Wildcats defeated the Anna Rockets in a low-scoring defensive battle 36-28 in Anna on Dec. 23. The Wildcats improved to 5-3 while the Rockets fell to 5-3.
Minster Coach Mike Wiss stated about the game, “Anna always plays hard. Sometimes, people raise their level of play and Anna’s one of those teams. It was rough; it was physical. It created turnovers. Our games play out like that, so that’s how we practice. I thought Kayla Lamm had a really nice game after the start of the game. Lydia Mescher, even though she got in foul trouble, had a nice game.”
Like many Minster games, this game was very defensive and the first quarter started like that as both teams struggled to score. Brenna Cobb was able to get a score for the Rockets around the 6-minute mark and then neither team scored until Cobb was able to make 1 of 2 from the line. Annie Hemmelgarn canned a three with 0:15 left to tie the game at 3 after 1. Between
the 2 made shots, there were 10 turnovers combined for both teams and no rhythm on offense.
About the first quarter, Wiss stated, “Both teams are quicker than the way those first 6 minutes played out. It seemed like it was lethargic and slow early, and I’m not sure why on either behalf of the way they practiced. I think both teams did a pretty good job of taking away the other team’s strengths and that makes somebody out there to make a play. If you can get Lydia Mescher spotted up if you can get Addi Inskeep isolated at the block. We are playing without Sadie Niemeyer, which changes us a little bit. It’s been 3 and a half games since we took the floor against Marion Local, and in those 3 and a half games, we’ve gotten better. We’ve gotten better at what we’ve wanted to do and the style of game that we want to make it.”
In the second quarter, turnovers continued to add on but the scoring also picked up as Minster started with a 7-1 run led by Addi Inskeep with 3 to make the score 104. Cobb helped the
Rockets get right back in the game with a 3 and a jumper to cut the Wildcat lead to 1. Minster was able to score the last four of the quarter to take a 5-point lead at halftime at 14-9.
After the half, Minster and Anna split the first nine pretty even as the score was 18-14 Minster, but Lydia Mescher drilled a 3 to make the lead Minster’s biggest at 21-14. However, Anna was able to score 6 of the last 8, led by Addison Bales with 4 to cut the lead to 3 at the third quarter break.
In the fourth quarter, Anna continued their run getting 5 of the next 6 points, culminating in an Ava Reed three from the top of the key to give Anna their first lead since 3-0 in the first quarter at 25-24. Minster answered back quickly with 7 of their own with Inskeep hitting a 2, Mescher burying a 3 and Kayla Lamm getting a layup to make the score 31-25. The Rockets answered with an and 1 opportunity for Jenna Wolters to cut the score to 31-28. After a Minster turnover, Anna had an opportu
The Minster Wildcats bowling teams competed at the Baker Holiday classic at Bellefontaine’s TP Lanes on Tuesday morning. The tournament consisted of each team bowling ten baker games. After these were complete, the top 8 teams would compete with 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, and 4 vs 5. These matches would be in best-ofthree fashion. If the team won, they moved on to the next round. Both boys’ and girls’ teams made it to the round of 8, but they were defeated in their first series of baker games.
The Minster girls bowling team earned a 155, 135, 115, 157, 144, and 156 in the first 6 baker games. After 6 games, Minster was 6th out of 10 teams. In the next two games, the girls bowled a 110 and a 150. Minster was 7th out of 10, but only 6 behind 6th place Ben Logan. In the final two games, Minster bowled 142 and 121. Minster finished with 1385 for an average of 138.5. Minster finished 7th place and had to play 2nd seed Troy in the best of three baker games. Troy won both baker games 173-136 and 171-164.
Minster Coach James Sharp stated after the match, “That’s the big thing. We bowled a good game and we picked up one of those spares and we beat them. Then, it’s anything like the last game. Very proud of them. I think we improved our baker average by probably 20 pins today, so that’s showing improvement. Keep working on it, keep working hard, and good things will happen. Julia Mullins bowled really well today. I used all of the girls so everyone came in and had a spot to come in. I made one move the second game and she did really well and had two spares.”
The Minster boys bowling team earned 198, 178, 219, 258, 191, and 193 in the first 6 games. Minster
was 2nd out of 13 teams, trailing only Washington Court House by 2 pins. Minster bowled 213 and 178 in their next two games. Minster was still 2nd but trailed Washington Court House by 58 and only led Coldwater by 29. Minster bowled 154 and 190 in the final 2 games for a final score of 1972 with an average of 197.2. Minster finished third and had to play six-seed Riverside in the best of three baker games. Minster won the first game convincingly 247-131. However, Riverside won the next two games 224213 and 175-164 to knock the Wildcats out of the tournament.
Minster Coach Austen Vanderhorst stated after the match, “I told the guys before the very first baker game that I just wanted us to get better. Baker games have been our biggest struggle for the whole year. Overall, average-wise, we’ve been bowling 155