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Genoa's season was on the line and time was running out.
First-year coach Mike DeStazio diagrammed an in-bounds play with 3.3 seconds left and his eighth-ranked Comets tied with Ottawa Hills in a Division III sectional championship game at Bowsher last Saturday.
If Genoa executed the play, the Comets would score and advance to this week's district tournament at Anthony Wayne. The play worked perfectly, with Julie Swartzmiller passing to fellow senior Bailee Adams for a layup at the buzzer to give the Comets a 48-46 come-from-behind win over the Green Bears.
“It was a tremendous win because the play I drew up, the kids ran it textbook,” said DeStazio, whose team overcame a 13-point third-quarter deficit. “I was kidding somebody afterward that it was the first time I actually felt like a coach. A lot of times you put a play together and for whatever reason, it doesn't work.”
Genoa (20-2) earned its first sectional title in two years and advanced to Thursday's district semifinals against defending D-III state champion Liberty-Benton (19-2).
“To cut down that net with this group of seniors, we were on Cloud 9,” DeStazio said. “It was neat to see a group of (seven) seniors so happy. Julie Swartzmiller gave me a big hug at the end of that game and said, 'Coach, this is for you.' I thought, 'what a great thing to say.' It's been nothing but memory lane. We'll never forget Bailee's shot, and Bailee will never forget that shot.”
DeStazio admitted that after taking several years off from coaching, he never envisioned his first Genoa team winning 20 games. DeStazio guided Woodmore's 1996-97 team to a 20-3 record (the Wildcats lost in the D-III district finals), and his 2001-02 Woodmore squad reached the regional semifinals before losing to Archbold.
“As you get to 7-0, 8-0 and 9-0, you start seeing a 20-win season,” DeStazio said. “Honestly, before I started (this season) I would have said no way. With the non-league games we had, I had no idea who the good teams were, like Springfield, Mohawk, Toledo Christian. They're all usually some of the better teams in their league.
“Winning 20 ballgames is not very common. It's quite an accomplishment. Now that you're here, you have to pinch yourself a little bit. To be 20-2 is in a lot of coaches' minds.”
Genoa had its hands full with fifth-ranked Liberty-Benton, which capped a 27-0 season last year with a 66-44 rout of Middletown Madison in the D-III state finals.
If the Comets won, they played the Lake-Elmwood winner on Saturday. Second-ranked Lake had already beaten Genoa twice this season, by scores of 36-33 and 52-38.
“What I think is important at this point is I don't over coach,” DeStazio said. “The kids have to be relaxed and continue to have fun. There is enough pressure put on them that I can't control, and that is playing Liberty-Benton. Lake prepares us to play a good team. Even those games we lost to Lake, it still prepares you to play against good teams, because Lake is a good team. Ottawa Hills (18-3) is one of the better teams in Northwest Ohio and it was a confidence-builder to beat them.”
The Comets were to put an all-senior starting lineup on the court against Liberty-Benton. Post Jessica Feller leads Genoa in scoring (11.1 ppg.) and rebounding (9.2 rpg.), while wing Alyssa Meis averages 11.0 points and 8.7 rebounds.
Swartzmiller, a wing who averages 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, scored 12 points in the win over Ottawa Hills. Senior point guard Brandi Schimming (7.8 ppg.) scored a game-high 16 points against the Bears on 7-for-9 shooting, and post Rachel Johnson (2.7 ppg.) is counted on to defend the opponent's top scorer.
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