Third quarter leads Shelby past Margaretta

CASTALIA — Margaretta was able to hold its own in the first half with Shelby, taking a 3-point into halftime. The Whippets outscored Margaretta by 15 points in the second half in a 51-39 victory in non-conference action Wednesday night. Margaretta, which dropped its first game of the season to fall to 5-1, was playing without two of its starters in Raegan Heck and Dani Grunden. It was the second of a back-to-back for Margaretta, which beat New London on Tuesday. "We're playing on a back-to-back, and I think we got a little tired physically, and maybe our focus (suffered)," Margaretta coach Ray Neill said. "Shelby knocked down some 3-pointers and forced some turnovers and got out on the break for some layups. They have quality athletes and are well-coached. "We played a physical New London team last night, and we had a tough one with Shelby tonight. We play this competition for a reason." Holding a 21-18 lead entering the third quarter, the Polar Bears were in pretty good shape before making some careless passes that led to turnovers and allowed Shelby to get out on the break for layups as the Whippets (4-1) took control. Trailing 23-20 following a basket by Margaretta forward Julia Berg with just under six minutes remaining in the third quarter, Shelby went on a 19-4 run to push the lead to 39-27 early in the final period. A putback by Natalie Kennard with 3:13 to play in the third quarter tied the score at 24-24, and 30 seconds later she stole a cross-court pass and cruised to a layup to give the Whippets the lead for good at 26-24. Then, Lexi Mohn hit a 3-pointer and Eve Schwemley banked in a 3 before Alyssa Booker hit one from long distance with just over a minute to play in the quarter. A layup by Kennard early in the fourth quarter put Shelby ahead, 43-29, and Margaretta would not get any closer than eight points the rest of the way. Kenadie Saylor had a team-high 12 points for Margaretta, and Cassidy Lane added 10. Schwemley led all scorers with 15 points, and Kennard finished with 14, 11 of which came in the second half. Shelby coach Natalie Lantz talked about her team's play and why the tide turned in the second half. "I felt like we looked tired and flat in the first half. Then we made some adjustments on defense," she said. "What I like is that we found a group that worked together well. We were right there. "We were trying to limit Lane's touches inside, and they have some great 3-point shooters. We felt like we were rotating better in the second half. Our rebounding was better, and we got some steals that led to some easy buckets. The defense got us on that run. I'm proud of them for buckling down. We couldn't buy a basket in the first half." There is great respect between the two programs. "That's a really good team. They just need to get a few players healthy," Lantz said. "I think the world of that staff and their team." SHELBY (4-1) Lexi Mohn 2 0-0 5, Alyssa Booker 2 1-2 6, Charlie Niese 2 2-4 6, Sophia Long 1 1-2 3, Serena Ramsey 1 0-0 2, Eve Schwemley 7 1-4 15, Natalie Kennard 6 0-0 14. TOTALS 21 5-14 51. MARGARETTA (5-1) Julia Berg 3 1-2 7, Grace Paseka 0 2-2 2, Cassidy Lane 3 4-4 10, Ellyse Schaefer 3 0-0 8, Kenadie Saylor 3 5-7 12. TOTALS 12 12-15 39. Shelby 7 11 17 16 — 51 Margaretta 9 12 6 12 — 39 Three-point goals: Shelby 4 (Kennard 2, Mohn, Booker); Margaretta 3 (Schaefer 2, Saylor) Bellevue 46, Clear Fork 44 CLEAR FORK — The Lady Red improved to 6-0 with a tough road win over Clear Fork on Wednesday. Hailey Rees scored 18 points for Bellevue while Carrington Savage hit three 3s en route to nine points. Savage and Ellie Freitag both hit big 3-pointers for Bellevue down the stretch to fend off Clear Fork (4-2). BELLEVUE (6-0) Ellie Freitag 2 0-0 6, Hailey Rees 6 3-5 18, Audrey Turner 1 0-0 2, Maize Gracemyer 2 0-0 5, Carrington Savage 3 0-0 9, Kaitlyn Turinsky 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 17 3-5 46 CLEAR FORK (4-2) Melodie Blubaugh 6 2-2 18, Asia Bechtel 1 0-0 3, Lillian Weikle 0 1-4 1, Ashtyn Wine 2 0-0 5, Brinley Barnett 3 2-4 9, Eliana Pelkey 2 0-0 5, Hailly Thrush 0 2-2 2, Rozy Stover 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 14 8-14 44 Bellevue 12 7 17 10 — 46Clear Fork 11 9 13 11 — 44 Three-point goals: Bellevue 9 (Rees 3, Savage 3, Freitag 2, Gracemyer); Clear Fork 8 (Blubaugh 4, Bechtel, Wine, Barnett, Pelkey) Edison 48, Bucyrus 35 BUCYRUS — Ivy Kluding scored 11 points to lead the Chargers to the non-league win Wednesday. Jorja Byington added nine points and nine rebounds for Edison (3-2) while Ella Booth also grabbed nine rebounds. EDISON (3-2) Taylor Moore 1 3-6 5, Ivy Kluding 2 7-8 11, Jorja Byington 4 1-6 9, Delaney Fields 1 0-0 3, Ella Booth 2 0-2 4, Stella Brown 3 2-2 9, Gracie Rang 1 0-0 2, Annabelle Seville 1 0-0 3, Peyton Taylor 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 16 13-24 48 BUCYRUS (0-6) Karlee Shull 2 0-0 6, Reese Garvin 2 1-6 6, Tori Stang 0 0-2 0, Marissa Middleton 2 5-6 10, Malina Rowland 3 0-0 7, Savannah Clark 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 12 6-14 35 Edison 15 6 15 12 — 48Bucyrus 9 7 9 10 – 35 Three-point goals: Edison 3 (Fields, Brown, Seville); Bucyrus 5 (Shull 2, Garvin, Middleton, Rowland)