Keller leaves Polar Bears' 53-37 win over Perkins with injury

PERKINS TWP. — The Margaretta girls got a win, but at a tremendous cost. Sophomore guard Jaelle Keller had to be transported to the hospital after going down hard on her knee midway through the fourth quarter of the Polar Bears' 53-37 Sandusky Bay Conference crossover win Tuesday at Perkins. "She has a major impact," Margaretta coach Eric Kochendoerfer said of Keller. "Not only is she an incredible basketball player, she's an awesome human being. Definitely, our thoughts and prayers are with her right now. "We'll see a little more after I get to the hospital and check on her. We'll see what ends up happening, but she will definitely be big shoes for us to fill if she's out a long time." Keller went down hard on her left knee while being guarded by Brenna Jenkins, who went in for a basket on the turnover. As it turned out, the Pirates would score just two more points the rest of the way while the Polar Bears were pulling away. "It's always tough to come over to Perkins," Kochendoerfer said. "They are a well-coached team and their girls are going to come out and play hard. It's a big rivalry game for us. I thought we could have gotten a little more movement offensively, but I credit their defense for that." The issue for Perkins (2-3) was 28 turnovers and allowing Margaretta to grab a 40-24 edge on the boards, including 21 offensive rebounds. "It was a grind and a sloppy game on our end," said Pirates coach Brian Heck. "It was turnovers and their offensive rebounds, and their turnovers killed us. They were turnovers that took points off the board. "I guarantee you that if we cut the turnovers in half and the offensive rebounds in half, we win that game." Margaretta (6-3) led 15-9 at the end of one and stretched the margin to 27-19 at the half. The Pirates cut the deficit to 27-23 to start the third quarter, but could never get any closer. Devyne Eisenhauer led all scorers with 20 points, while Kylie Leibacher finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Cameron Kaufman led the way for Perkins with 10 points and 10 boards, while Kelley Baker added nine rebounds and three blocks. "We were trying to get the tempo up, to get into the 60s, but we didn't quite get there," Kochendoefer said. "Right now, we're focusing on getting better defensively as a team. We didn't shoot real well, but for us, our defense is our best offense and right now. "We're working on getting better on doing the small things and those small things are going to lead to bigger things that will help our offense." MARGARETTA (6-3) Jaelle Keller 2 0-0 5, Elliana Schaefer 1 2-2 4, Kylee Cheek 1 0-0 2, Kylie Leibacher 4 0-0 10, Devyne Eisenhauer 10 0-0 20, Miah Miller 3 0-0 6, Phoebe Dreschel 2 0-0 4, Eden Palomo 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 3-4 53 PERKINS (2-3) Brenna Jenkins 4 0-0 8, Cameron Kaufman 4 1-3 10, Kelley Bake 0 4-6 4, Kendall Zeiher 3 0-0 7, Kate Ulery 2 2-4 6, Maggie McVeigh 0 2-2 2. Totals 13 9-15 37 Margaretta 15 12 10 16 — 53 Perkins 9 10 9 9 — 37 3-point field goals—Margaretta 2 (Jaelle Keller, Kylie Leibacher 1), Perkins 2 (Cameron Kaufman 1, Kendall Zeiher 1)