Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
For the first time since 1990 and only the second time in program history, the Genoa girls basketball team is headed to the regional tournament.
“Oh, man,” Genoa head coach Glenn Black said. “I can't put it into words. It feels great. I’m just super proud of these kids. They played extremely hard, both teams. Hats off to Liberty-Benton, too. That's a good, hard-fought game.”
Avenging a loss in last year’s district semifinal, and led by Makenna Moritz’s game-high 34 points, the Comets produced a 52-48 victory over Liberty-Benton in a Division IV district championship game at Miller City High School on Feb. 28.
“It means a lot,” Moritz said. “We've been working towards this since day one. Obviously, we’re going to take this all in, but then we’re back to practice.”
Genoa (19-6) is now slated to face London High School (24-1) on Thursday, March 4 in the regional semifinal at Bluffton High School. The winner likely gets undefeated, defending state champion Bellevue for the regional title.
Moritz scored the game’s first five points and eventually had eight in the opening quarter as the two teams were tied at 11 through one frame. Addi Moritz had the other three points as the Comets made a trio of 3-pointers in the opening quarter.
“Honestly, once the first three went in, I knew that's where I was going to be able to score a lot, knowing that I had a bigger post on me,” Makenna Moritz said. “So once the first three went in, I just kept shooting, hoping that it went in (while) just rebounding the heck out of the ball.”
Despite knowing they would have to make some long distance shots to stay in the game, Moritz used her size to get several players in foul trouble, especially Liberty-Benton’s Corra Dehart, a Division I prospect who picked up her third foul in the second quarter and sat much of the first half of the third quarter, which helped the Comets come back from down seven.
Kylie Pennington’s corner 3-pointer in the final minute of the third quarter helped fully erase that deficit and give Genoa a 35-34 lead into the fourth, where Makenna Moritz totaled 10 more points. Adrianna Williams had a huge basket off a sideline out of bounds play late in the game, while playing pestering full-court defense throughout.
Stella Rethman also had a big 3-pointer in the second quarter, while Addi Moritz made 3-of-4 free throws in the final quarter. Keira Combs added four points, including a key layup in the fourth. Lucy Schlageter also played an integral role off the bench.
For Black, the biggest thing he noticed was the grit his team showed, and the team’s senior leadership, which includes Williams, Addi Moritz, and Combs.
“Led by our seniors, I thought they did an amazing job,” he said. “Obviously Makenna was amazing, but it was just a total team effort. When we needed big shots, we got them. When we needed stops, we got them. I thought Adrianna’s job on the defensive end (was big), Addi had huge rebounds for us, (and) Keira just (showed) her leadership.
“They've just totally bought into being a team and doing whatever it takes for the team to win. That's what they care about. They are totally selfless.”
Makenna Moritz is now averaging 23.7 points through three tournament games, but Black was impressed with her latest performance.
“That's got to be one of the best games I've ever seen from a kid, honestly,” he said. “Boys or girls, anything, like that was just phenomenal. She had a look in her eye, just eye of the tiger. It was phenomenal.”
Genoa’s 1989-90 team, led by head coach Larry Kincaid, was the only other team in program history to reach the regional tournament, where they defeated Upper Sandusky in the Division III semifinal, 50-46, before falling in the final to Coldwater, 67-49. Lisa Witt had 19 points, and Amy Sander had two clutch free throws late to seal the semifinal win. Cathy Widman had a team-best 16 points in the championship game. The Comets finished that season 21-4.
Shorthanded Rockets fall in district final
The Oak Harbor girls basketball team, which was playing with the services of starting guard Brooke Tabbert, suffered a 51-29 defeat to undefeated Ottawa-Glandorf in a Division V district final at Defiance High School on Feb. 28.
Tabbert had just scored a game-best 16 points in her team’s 54-36 district semifinal win over Eastwood four days earlier. Reghan Markley added 15 points, while Karder Haas had nine points, which included a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that made her Oak Harbor’s all-time career leader.
Eastwood (14-11) was led by a game-high 16 points, as well, from Ava Kachmarik in the semifinal, while Karissa Nelson added nine.
The Rockets (20-5) made a valiant effort in the loss to O-G as Kendall Gaines forced her way down low for the game’s first basket, and Oak Harbor led 12-11 at one point before Ottawa-Glandorf took over. Markley (9), Gaines (8), and Haas (7) combined for 24 of the team’s 29 points.
Woodmore, Stritch fall in district semifinals
Woodmore, which led 29-23 over New London in a Division VI district semifinal following a 3-pointer from Keira Travis with 6:22 left in regulation, suffered a heartbreaking 40-34 defeat in overtime after being held without a field goal from that point until 32.4 seconds remained in overtime.
In fact, over the last 6:03 of the fourth quarter and the entire overtime session, both teams combined for just one field goal and 20 made free throws. Kelsey Kaylor led the Wildcats (17-8) with 13 points, while Camille Strong had 10.
One of the state’s all-time greatest scorers, North Baltimore sophomore Lacie Allison, was too much for Stritch in a 61-17 Division VII district semifinal at Gibsonburg High School on Feb. 25.
Allison produced a game-best 33 points, along with 16 rebounds, five assists, and five steals for the Tigers. Meanwhile, Amaya Hill led Stritch (7-17) with 10 points and nine rebounds. Erin Carbe pulled down five rebounds, while the duo of Alivia Castro and Makayla Miltz each had four boards.
