Margaretta shut down by Magnificat, 48-37

CASTALIA -- Margaretta continued its tough non-league girls basketball schedule Monday night. For the second time this season, the Polar Bears fell victim to a tough opponent that will only make them better later in the season. Margaretta scored the first seven points of the game, but consistently had troubles offensively, falling to Division I Magnificat, 48-37. "Magnificat is long and athletic and they like to shoot the 3," Margaretta coach Eric Kochendoerfer said. "They have some good size down low and we got exactly what we thought we were going to get." The Polar Bears (4-2) have already played Shelby, Toledo Christian, Hopewell-Loudon and Magnificat and have little time to rest as they travel to Division I Perrysburg on Wednesday night. "We do not have time to have a pity party," Kochendoerfer said. "We cannot feel sorry for ourselves. It stings whenever you take a loss. Every game we play, we expect to win." Margaretta led 9-5 after eight minutes and pushed it to 12-5 in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter. The Polar Bears maintained a 16-11 lead midway through the quarter, but went scoreless over the final 4:02 of the half. In the meantime, the Blue Streaks (1-3) scored the last nine points of the quarter and never trailed in the second half. "Anytime you play a team like Magnificat, their bread and butter is their defense," Kochendoerfer said. "They are going to be aggressive and they are going to pressure you and force you into some bad shots. We knew coming in that they would be aggressive and tough." Margaretta tied the game at 21 a minute into the third quarter and trailed 25-24 after a Devyne Eisenhauer bucket, but could never quite overcome Magnificat. The Blue Streaks used an 8-2 run to open a lead and led 35-28 after three quarters. "That is a great Division I school right there," Kochendoerfer said. "They have played Canton McKinley and Newark. They like to compete." The Polar Bears got within six points on three separate occasions in the final quarter. Kylie Leibacher, who scored 25 points in Saturday's road win over Edison, was held scoreless. She was primarily defended by Magnificat's Cameron Jones, who stands 6 feet tall. "They put the Jones girl on her and she is going to Monmouth for a reason," Kochendoerfer said. "She is long, she is athletic, and she is quick. I thought Magnificat did a great job of taking Kylie out of the basketball game." Elliana Schaefer led the Polar Bears with 14 points while Jaelle Keller had eight points and 10 rebounds. Eisenhauer added 10 points, six of which came in the first quarter. "I thought we came out strong," Kochendoerfer said. "I thought we came out with good energy. We did some good things on defense." Margaretta announced it will host Bellevue on January 11 and Toledo Central Catholic on January 13 in rescheduled games. The Polar Bears are also scheduled to play Warrensville Heights and Minster at the Classic in the Country showcase on January 16 and 17. MAGNIFICAT (1-3) Mary Spear 1 1-2 3, Mollie La Spisa 6 0-1 13, Mallory Cannon 1 0-0 2, Clare Chambers 4 1-2 10, Cameron Jones 5 0-0 10, Maddie Norman 0 4-4 4, Francie Spear 0 2-2 2, Abby Rosol 2 0-1 4. TOTALS 19 8-12 48 MARGARETTA (4-2) Jaelle Keller 2 3-4 8, Elliana Schaefer 4 5-6 14, Kylie Leibacher 0 0-0 0, Devyne Eisenhauer 5 0-0 10, Phoebe Dreschel 0 0-0 0, Jennifer Patrick 1 3-4 5. TOTALS 12 11-14 37 Magnificat 5 15 15 13 -- 48Margaretta 9 7 12 9 -- 37 Three-point goals -- Magnificat 2 (La Spisa, Chambers); Margaretta 2 (Keller, Schaefer) GALLERY: [Album Placeholder (use source code to remove)]