Margaretta rolls into Elite Eight

BLUFFTON — Margaretta found itself in a street fight and fought its way out. The Lady Bears were tied with Ottawa Hills early in the second quarter, but dominated the rest of the way in a 42-29 Division VI regional semifinal at Bluffton University on Thursday. The win moves Margaretta into a regional final against Patrick Henry at 6 p.m. Saturday back at Copeland Court. The Bears shot just 30 percent in the game, but clamped down on defense to improve to 25-1 on the season. "It was a little rough at first," Margaretta senior Cassidy Lane said. "We couldn't get our offense going until the third quarter. We couldn't get the ball in and out; that's what we're best at. I get doubled down low, I kick it back out." Lane finished with 23 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 3-ranked Margaretta. She made 11 of 12 free throws and came out of the game for good with 4:57 to play and the Bears leading by 20 points. "We did a nice job of being more patient from the second quarter on and reversing the basketball and working inside out," Margaretta coach Ray Neill said. "We were getting face-guarded for a while. We were seeing box-and-one and triangle-and-two, those junk defenses we've been seeing a lot of." After an early 9-0 run gave Margaretta a 9-3 lead, the Green Bears fought back to tie the game at 10-10 on a Brodi Kale 3-pointer with 7:04 left in the second quarter. Ottawa Hills (17-9) scored just one point in the next 16 minutes, 41 seconds. Kendell Skiver, an athletic 5-foot-11 sophomore, came into the game averaging nearly 27 points per game for Ottawa Hills. She finished with five and just one field goal. That came with two minutes to play in the game. "Our defense was phenomenal," Lane said. "It all started with Lilly (Belak) keeping 22 (Skiver) off the glass, out of the lane. It was everyone else from there and coming together as one. She was averaging 27 points a game. Until Lilly came out she only had two, which was absolutely incredible." Added Neill: "She was the focal point. Outstanding job by Lilly Belak, Kenadie Saylor and the entire team. We needed to take away gaps and not let her get to the basket. We did an outstanding job with that." Margaretta took control with a 9-0 run to end the first half to lead 19-10 at halftime. Lane scored six of the points and three came from an Ellyse Schaefer 3-pointer. The Bears outscored OH 11-1 in the third quarter, taking a 30-11 lead on Lane's putback with 44 seconds left in the period. Heading into the final eight minutes, Ottawa Hills was shooting just 13 percent from the field (3 for 23). Margaretta wasn't much better (8 for 36, 22 percent) but they hit the boards to get more shots. "We had spurts where we were good offensively and spurts where we took the first open shot instead of maybe making a pass or one dribble to draw somebody and get a better shot," Neill said. "Win by one, win by 22, you advance. Proud of our girls. We talked about a little bit of redemption coming in here." Margaretta lost in the Sweet 16 last year to Columbus Grove. Thursday's win means the Lady Bears get to play Patrick Henry for a spot in next week's final four. Patrick Henry fended off Columbus Grove 48-41 in the first regional semifinal. Schaefer finished with eight points and Saylor added seven points and six rebounds. Lane's spin move and basket with 5:23 to play gave Margaretta a 36-16 lead. She came out seconds later. After Saylor scored to make it 38-16 with 5:23 to play, all the starters exited to a nice ovation. Ottawa Hills kept its starters in until the end and scored the last 11 points of the game. Still, the Green Bears shot just 24 percent from the field for the game. Sophie VanSlooten, OH's only senior starter, led the Green Bears with 16 points — 13 coming in the fourth quarter. "At one point one of my assistant coaches said we had to get some girls out and make sure we had them (fresh) for Saturday," Neill said. "Whether we win by 5, 10, 15 or 20, let's get a win and go into Saturday healthy." OTTAWA HILLS (17-9) Brodi Kale 1 0-0 3, Alexa Potts 1 0-0 3, Kendell Skiver 1 3-6 5, Sara Hamilton 0 0-2 0, Sophie VanSlooten 6 0-0 16, Maryam Nasser 0 2-2 2, Maeve Mackey 0 0-2 0. TOTALS 9 5-12 29 MARGARETTA (25-1) Lillian Belak 1 0-0 2, Ellaynah Schaefer 0 0-0 0, Cassidy Lane 6 11-12 23, Ellyse Schaefer 3 0-0 8, Kenadie Saylor 3 0-0 7, Addyson Fitzthum 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 14 11-12 42 Ottawa Hills 7 3 1 18 — 29 Margaretta 10 9 11 12 — 42 Three-point goals: Ottawa Hills 6 (VanSlooten 4, Kale, Potts); Margaretta 3 (Ellyse Schaefer 2, Saylor)