Margaretta clinches regional at free throw line

BLUFFTON — Margaretta is going back to Dayton. After the Lady Bears' four seniors experienced the state tournament as freshmen, they set out on a journey to return in their final season. No. 2-ranked Margaretta used tough defense to knock off No. 6 Patrick Henry 37-31 in a Division VI regional final at Bluffton University on Saturday night. "It means so much," Polar Bears senior Ellyse Schaefer said. "I was on the bench more than in the (state semifinal) game as a freshman. To turn around and grow as a player and grow as a team and come back with obviously a completely different squad is so incredible." Margaretta improved to 26-1 and will face No. 9 Canton Central Catholic (22-5) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Wright State University in a state semifinal. It will be the Bears' second trip to the state semifinals in four years. "They got a taste of it as freshmen," Bears coach Ray Neill said. "Maybe not a whole lot on the floor, but they remember the enjoyment of getting it done, the experience of traveling and staying overnight. They got the experience of good food and all that kind of stuff — the experience of performing in front of a community that is second to none." Senior Cassidy Lane said she and classmates Schaefer, Kenadie Saylor and Lillian Belak reminisced early Saturday about how they lost the Sandusky Bay Conference as fourth-graders. What they did against the Patriots (22-4) was for the little version of the quartet. "We're going to state and it's incredible," Lane said. "There's four teams left and we're one of them. It's so special. We're re-writing history. It's amazing. All of us have been together since we were in fourth grade." Margaretta finished off the win at the foul line. A ho-hum 8 for 13 to that point, the Bears hit the final six free throws they attempted. It started when freshman Renna Keller was subbed in for Belak when PH committed its fourth team foul of the fourth quarter. On the inbounds play, the Bears were able to waste 10 seconds before Keller was fouled. She sank both free throws, giving Margaretta a 33-29 lead with 1:05 to play. "I felt pretty good," Keller said. "It was a team effort, but it was pretty nice to hit those at the end of the game and make them part of the win. "I wasn't nervous. I felt like I needed to hit them and I did." From there, the Bears forced Patrick Henry to waste some time before even getting a look. When the Patriots did, they missed and Lane grabbed the rebound. She got it to Schaefer, who was fouled. She added two makes for a 35-29 advantage with 29 seconds left. The Patriots then committed one of their 12 turnovers and Lane was quickly fouled. She knocked in two more free throws to make it 37-29. "I think if you ask our girls, we put a lot of time in at the foul line," Neill said. "I'm sure there's times where they'll say 'foul line again?' Tonight, it's the benefits and the rewards to get it done at the foul line in a pressure situation." Ada Christman scored Patrick Henry's final basket before Margaretta used up the final 6.7 seconds left after a timeout to punch its ticket to Dayton. The run started with a freshman making the most of the biggest situation she's been in this season. "What Renna has done in other game situations at the foul line and what she does at practice at the foul line, she was the one we went to," Neill said. "I want to thank her for making the coaches look good." It was obvious from the get-go that the Bears wanted to play a methodical style of basketball. Neither team scored until Lane's bucket with 4:22 to go in the first quarter. Margaretta used a 9-2 sprint to go up 16-11. Lane scored on a putback and Belak tallied a three-point play in the run. The Bears led 16-13 at halftime, but Patrick Henry used a surge in the third quarter to go up 20-18. Schaefer was slow out of the gate for Margaretta, but got going when she was needed. She was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and missed the first free throw. She made the next two to tie the game at 20. With PH leading 24-22, Schaefer canned a triple before Lane scored at the third quarter buzzer. The Patriots responded, going up 29-27. Saylor then split two free throws before Schaefer's triple gave Margaretta a 31-29 lead it wouldn't relinquish. "I was excited to go to the foul line," said Schaefer of being fouled on the 3-pointer in the third quarter. "Sometimes it's nice to see a shot go in. Once I made one, I got a little more confident from behind the line. That helped a lot." Patrick Henry only got off 32 shot attempts while Margaretta had 25 tries. "It was part of the game plan," said Neill of slowing down the game. "We didn't want to get in an up-and-down situation with them. We wanted to value the basketball and our offensive possessions. Make them work. "We felt that if we were patient and deliberate and we could take the ball from one side of the court to the other and make those long, lanky, athletic bodies move a little bit, we could get some open looks. We did enough of that to win." Lane tallied 11 points and eight rebounds while Schaefer added 10 points. Neill tried to hold it in, but it was an emotional evening for the veteran coach. "Very much so," he said. "I get to go to practice every night with these girls and I know the work they put in on the floor and in the film room. I'm just extremely happy and I'm proud of them. I want to thank my coaching staff right now, all of them with the work they do to prepare our girls. "I'm a proud Margaretta alum, and to get it done with granddaughters of people that I went to school with, it's a special thing." MARGARETTA (26-1) Lillian Belak 2 2-2 6, Ellaynah Schaefer 0 0-0 0, Cassidy Lane 3 5-6 11, Ellyse Schaefer 2 4-5 10, Kenadie Saylor 3 1-4 8, Renna Keller 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 10 14-19 37 PATRICK HENRY (22-4) Carys Crossland 3 4-6 11, Sophie Guelde 1 0-2 2, Ella Christman 1 0-0 3, Ada Christman 5 0-0 11, Kynli Crossland 1 0-0 2, Meyta Hieber 1 0-2 2. TOTALS 12 4-10 31 Margaretta 5 11 11 10 — 37 Patrick Henry 3 10 11 7 — 31 Three-point goals: Margaretta 3 (E. Schaefer 2, Saylor); Patrick Henry 3 (C. Crossland, E. Christman, A. Christman)