Polar Bears use balanced scoring to defeat Clyde

CASTALIA — Margaretta and Clyde both were missing standout players Tuesday night due to injuries, but the Polar Bears showed some balance on offense to get past the Fliers 47-41 in an SBC girls basketball crossover game. Margaretta is playing without All-SBC Bay Division guard Raegan Heck, who is out after suffering a head injury last Friday at Fremont Ross. Clyde is without All-SBC Lake guard Katie Shiets and post Reese Daniel. Both are out with leg injuries. Margaretta (3-0) had three players score in double figures — Cassidy Lane with 14, Kenadie Saylor with 13 and Grace Paseka with 11 — and used a 15-0 run to overcome a six-point halftime deficit. "That was a tussle," Margaretta coach Ray Neill said. "Give a lot of credit to Clyde for coming in here and playing extremely hard. Our girls persevered. We played through some adversity not having our regular point guard and played through some frustration in regard to handling the basketball and not making some shots we normally make." Clyde (2-1) took a 23-17 halftime lead after a great second quarter by sophomore Kenzlie Guhn. She scored 13 points, grabbed three rebounds and added a no-look assist to Taitum Jeffrey for a 3-pointer in the period. "She's that good," Clyde coach Blayze Behney said. "I know she's only a sophomore, but she is a scorer. Her role is to score and play defense. She can shoot the ball. "We're young but I like our energy. We're gonna build off this and continue to get better." Jeffrey chipped in with 13 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter. Clyde trailed by 13 early in the fourth but got within 42-39 with 3:30 to play on a pair of Jeffrey free throws. Clyde pressured Margaretta's ball handlers when they crossed half court to help cut into the big deficit. "It was something that was different. We're trying different things with these kids," Behney said. "We still don't really know what we're good at. "We had big-time adversity tonight. This place is loud. We probably made a lot of silly mistakes but we'll learn from them." Margaretta got eight points from Paseka in the third quarter to take the lead. Her 3-pointer with 2 minutes left in the period gave the Polar Bears a 29-28 lead and started a 15-0 run that ended on a Jeffrey drive to the hoop with 6:45 left in the fourth. "We had a great third quarter. They made another run and they responded," Neill said. "Grace made some big shots for us, handled the basketball in an intense environment. We need that from her." A Saylor 3 opened the fourth quarter for Margaretta and Lane added two free throws to build the Bears' lead to 41-28. Lane made 6 of 7 free throws in the game. "All of girls had certain times they played well," Neill said. "(Dani) Gruden had it in the first quarter (four points in first and third quarters). Kenadie had a great third quarter for us and Grace stepped up in the third quarter. Cassidy was her consistent self." Lane's drop step and bucket with 2 minutes to play gave Margaretta a 44-39 lead. Saylor's baseline drive extended the lead to seven points. "Young team, learning through adversity," Behney said. "After the 15-0 run we could've gone backward or respond and fight. What are we gonna do moving forward?" Behney said Shiets is progressing from a knee injury and could be back at the end of the month. "She's been doing 20 minutes a day with us, non-contact," he said. Clyde hosts Bellevue on Saturday while Margaretta plays at undefeated Port Clinton in its SBC Bay Division opener Saturday. CLYDE (2-1) Taitum Jeffrey 4 4-6 13, Kelsey Ray 0 2-2 2, Ariah Farrar 2 1-5 6, Kenzlie Guhn 6 2-2 18, Kennedi Long 0 0-0 0, Abbie Rogash 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 12 11-17 41 MARGARETTA (3-0) Julia Berg 0 0-0 0, Grace Paseka 4 0-0 11, Cassidy Lane 4 6-7 14, Ellyse Schaefer 0 0-0 0, Dani Grunden 4 0-0 8, Kenadie Saylor 4 4-5 13, Ashlyn Kingsborough 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 16 11-14 47 Clyde 7 16 5 13 — 41Margaretta 7 10 19 11 — 47 Three-point goals: Clyde 6 (Guhn 4, Jeffrey 1, Farrar 1); Margaretta 4 (Paseka 3, Saylor 1)