No. 1 Polar Bears roll to 20th win on Senior Night

CASTALIA — Margaretta's four seniors helped build a big lead on Senior Night. Their reward was a leisurely final four minutes, watching from the bench as the Polar Bears put the finishing touches on a 54-36 non-conference win over Eastwood on Monday. The Bears, ranked No. 1 in the state in Division VI, played their regular-season finale at the Iceberg and improved to 20-1. Senior center Cassidy Lane led Margaretta with 19 points and 15 rebounds. She scored 12 points in the third quarter to help fend off an athletic bunch of Eagles. Lane, who got to be on the court with her freshman sister Tessa in the first half, enjoyed the view from the sideline. "That's the future Lady Bears right there. It's such a cool opportunity to see them grow," Cassidy Lane said. "My sister is a freshman and we got a little playing time together, which was nice." Before the game — the last of the regular season at the high school — the seniors were introduced. Cassidy Lane, Ellyse Schaefer, Kenadie Saylor and Lillian Belak took their bows as they were introduced with their parents. "The fact that it's the last home game in-season ever is kind of crazy and really sad," Cassidy Lane said. "I've been together with Ellyse, Kenadie and Lily since third grade. We've always been so close and it's just really special and the community is just so amazing." The Bears hung around after the game to take pictures and cut down a net to celebrate their Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division title. Their season finale is Saturday against Toledo Christian. The game will be played at the elementary school in Castalia to make way for the Caleb Stockmaster Memorial wrestling tournament in the high school gym. Needless to say, things will get a little cramped at the elementary gym. "We're gonna put some chairs along the baseline and add another 40, 50 seats," Margaretta coach Ray Neill said. "Game 22 will be a nostalgic trip down Bogart Road." Game 21 couldn't have started better for the Bears, who zipped out to a 16-1 lead after eight minutes. Cassidy Lane got things started with a basket 17 seconds into the game. Schaefer made two 3-pointers in the quarter and Addyson Fitzhum came off the bench to score four points. "I thought our start was good," Neill said. "We were up 16-1 and got into some substitution patterns that might've got us out of sync a little bit. I'll take the blame for that. But I'm happy to win by (18) against a team that plays extremely hard is well coached and plays a good schedule. "They have an abundance of soccer players who play an aggressive game of basketball." Margaretta turned it over 20 times, but forced 24 Eastwood miscues. "There some things we didn't do well, which will give us something to work on in practice," Neill said. After building its lead to 24-3 on an Ellaynah Schaefer steal and layup and a Cassidy Lane free throw with 5:32 to play in the second quarter, Eastwood went into halftime on a 10-4 run. Margaretta had a field goal drought of 5 1/2 minutes that started in the second quarter. Cassidy Lane got it going in the third, making five goals and a couple free throws. Eastwood's Ava Kachmarik — who led the Eagles with 12 points — hit a 3-pointer to cut Margaretta's lead to 36-23 with three minutes to play in the third, but the Bears scored the last seven points of the period, the last bucket coming when Saylor assisted from the floor on an Ellyse Schaefer layup with six seconds on the clock. "Coach Neill said it definitely wasn't our best half," Cassidy Lane said. 'We had to slow the ball down and I knew it was up to the seniors. We kind of took over and it was nice." Ellyse Schaefer finished with 13 points and Saylor added nine. Eastwood finishes its regular season Thursday at Oak Harbor before hosting Edison in a Division V tournament opener Feb. 21. Margaretta tips off the postseason Feb. 19 at home against Monroeville. EASTWOOD (10-9) Makenna Nelson 1 0-0 2, Karissa Nelson 3 0-0 8, Ava Kachmarik 5 0-0 12, Lauren Schuerman 1 0-0 2, Mack Miller 1 0-1 2, Gracyn Reiter 1 1-2 3, Sophia Zink 2 3-4 7. TOTALS 14 4-7 36 MARGARETTA (20-1) Lillian Belak 1 1-4 3, Ellaynah Schaefer 1 0-0 2, Cassidy Lane 7 5-7 19, Ellyse Schaefer 5 0-0 13, Kenadie Saylor 4 1-3 9, Addyson Fitzhum 3 0-0 6, Renna Keller 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 22 7-14 54 Eastwood 1 12 12 11 — 36 Margaretta 16 12 20 6 — 54 Three-point goals: Eastwood 4 (K. Nelson 2, Kachmarik 2); Margaretta 3 (Ellyse Schaefer 3)