Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
The Genoa girls basketball team continued its postseason run with a 49-42 win over London High School in a Division IV regional semifinal on March 4, but ran into the undefeated defending state champion, Bellevue, in a 59-42 regional final loss on March 6. Both games were played at Bluffton University.
With the loss, the Comets (20-7) concluded an historic season that saw them tie the 1989-90 team for the best postseason run in program history.
In the semifinal, Genoa held London (24-2) to just three points in the second quarter while jumping out to a 26-11 lead at the half. Makenna Moritz scored eight of her 14 points in the first half, while Addi Morits had 10 of her game-high 15 points in the first half.
New London scored 31 points in the second half to get back in the game, but Genoa made key plays late, which included four free throws from Addi Moritz in the final quarter, as well as 3-of-4 at the line from Keira Combs, who added 10 points. Kylie Pennington also made a key 3-pointer during that stretch, and Lucy Schlageter added four points for the game.
Makenna Moritz scored a team-best 14 points against Bellevue, which limited Genoa to just seven points in the first half. The Comets improved its scoring with seven points from Moritz in the third quarter, and they tallied 15 as a team in the final frame with points from seven different players, including four from Allie Antry, two from Josie Downour, and one from Avery Henneman-Dallape.
Genoa’s 1989-90 team, led by head coach Larry Kincaid, was the only other one 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.
