Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
In a battle of Press-area teams, the Woodmore girls basketball team used a big third quarter and a strong performance on the glass to help pull off a 50-42 road win over Gibsonburg in a Division VI sectional title game on Feb. 19.
“It was just a gritty win,” Woodmore head coach Kyle Clair said. “It was two good communities coming together and a great atmosphere of basketball. I’m glad that we could come out on top.”
Down 18-16 at the half, the Wildcats defense held Gibsonburg scoreless for the first four minutes of the third quarter, ultimately outscoring the Golden Bears 15-8 in the frame. The hosts shot just 3-of-14 from the field and 0-for-5 from 3-point range during that stretch.
Offensively, Woodmore shot 11-of-22 from the field in the second half as a team, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range.
Woodmore’s Kelsey Kaylor finished 5-of-13 from the field for a team-high 14 points while adding six rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal.
Ariana Florio also contributed heavily in the win, producing 12 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Her effort was a big part of Woodmore’s 51-26 advantage in total rebounds, especially in a 15-5 margin in offensive boards.
Camille Strong and Izzy Helmke also added nine points apiece. While Helmke totaled all of her points from long distance, ultimately finishing 3-for-7 from the field, Strong added seven rebounds, one steal, and one block. Helmke pulled down seven rebounds.
“We had talked about that the third opportunity to play a great team here in Gibsonburg,” Clair said. “The first two games were battles, but I didn't think we played to our full potential. Tonight, we had multiple people show up for us. The seniors played big, and we had some resiliency in the midst of some adversity when they came back and cut the lead. I’m just super proud of them. I think it all just kind of came together tonight.”
After a strong third quarter pushed Woodmore’s advantage to 31-26, the Wildcats opened the final frame on a 5-0 run, punctuated by a fast break bucket from Kaylor with 6:37 left.
Gibsonburg’s Emily Henderson ended the streak, and Elly Evarts eventually made a pair of free throws with 4:05 left to trim her team’s deficit to three.
Evarts then stripped Kaylor at midcourt and went in for a layup, but Kaylor stuffed the shot out of bounds. On the inbounds play, Evarts found herself open in the corner for a 3-pointer, but the shot rimmed out with 3:33 left.
Gibsonburg ultimately went 0-for-4 as a team in a one possession game before Kaylor made a pair of free throws for a 41-36 lead with 3:01 left.
Florio added a bucket on a dish from Helmke for a seven-point lead 30 seconds later, and Florio iced the game from the foul line.
Clair thought his team’s senior leadership really showed in the win.
“Composure, resiliency. You know ... three, four years of playing,” he said. “Camille Strong has been with us for four years. All that experience in games like this finally showed, and I thought multiple people tonight, which we needed, stepped up. We had multiple seniors do that.”
Defensively, Woodmore stifled one of the state’s best players in Evarts, who averaged 29 points while shooting 50 percent from the field combined in the first two matchups between the two teams this season.
Evarts scored 19 points, but Kaylor and company held her to a 5-for-23 finish from the field, including 2-for-10 from 3-point range. The all-around talent still had a game-high seven assists, six rebounds, and two steals.
“She’s a great player, so we know she's going to get her points because she's just solid all the way around and has that basketball instinct,” Clair said. “But I thought we got to her early. We wanted to at least rotate early and make her work for it instead of kind of waiting for her to come to us. I thought we did that for the majority of the game. We had some breakdowns, but we recovered so well. We rebounded better tonight than we had in the first two games.”
Outside of Evarts, Emma Jividen finished 4-of-9 from long distance for 12 points. The duo had all but 11 of Gibsonburg’s points. Leah Hall had a team-best nine rebounds.
The outcome snapped a nine-game winning streak for Gibsonburg, which finishes the season 18-5 overall.
Woodmore, meanwhile, improved to 17-6 overall, pushing its own winning streak to seven. They were scheduled to face New London in a district semifinal on Feb. 25.
Clair thought another key was a matchup against Eastwood on Feb. 17. Despite a loss, it helped the Wildcats prepare for Gibsonburg.
“It was a quality opponent,” he said. “Eastwood was feisty and aggressive and had us back on our heels. It was another team that played man to man against us, and we haven't seen a lot of man all year. Most of the SBC teams played zone against us. So having that (on) Tuesday to kind of get some game reps was good.”
Oak Harbor, Eastwood set for district semifinal matchup
In Division V action on Feb. 21, Oak Harbor (19-4) took down Port Clinton 48-31, while Eastwood (13-10) defeated Milan Edison 45-25 to set up a district semifinal matchup between the two teams, which was slated for Feb. 24 at Lakota High School. The winner will advance to the final against either Ottawa-Glandorf or Elmwood on Feb. 28 at Defiance High School.
In the Oak Harbor victory, Brooke Tabbert led all scorers with 18 points while also compiling seven steals and six rebounds. Karder Haas scored nine points while making two 3-pointers to tie the program’s career record for most long distance makes. Kendall Gaines added nine points, while Reghan Markley had six points.
Eastwood, meanwhile, jumped out to a 24-11 lead at the half behind a game-high 15 points, plus seven rebounds, from Ava Kachmarik. Karissa Nelson added 12 points, while Gracyn Reiter had 10 points. Mack Miller pulled down nine boards, while Kenna Nelson had five assists.
Genoa, Stritch also win sectional titles
Genoa (17-6) cruised to a 72-33 victory over Sandusky Perkins in a Division IV sectional title matchup on Feb. 21 behind a game-high 24 points from Makenna Moritz, who scored 23 of those in the first half. Addi Moritz added 12 points, while Keira Combs had 11. Kylie Pennington tacked on eight points. The Comets (17-6) will face Shelby in a district semifinal on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Fostoria.
Stritch (7-16) took down Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic 49-40 in a Division VII sectional final on Feb. 21. While stats weren’t reported, the Cardinals will advance to face North Baltimore in a district semifinal at Gibsonburg High School on Feb. 25.
Lake, Northwood, Waite, Clay fall in sectionals
Lake, which made a run to last year’s district final, was knocked off 50-43 by Vermilion in a Division IV sectional championship Feb. 21. The Flyers (12-11) were led by Brooke Wiley’s game-high 18 points, while Paige Allen added 13 and Kaydence Eckenrode had five. Maddie Sterling chipped in three points.
Among schools who didn’t report stats, Northwood (3-20) lost a Division VI sectional final to Patrick Henry, 74-8. Waite (1-17) lost a Division III sectional final to Central Catholic, 72-6, and Clay (2-21) lost a Division II sectional final to Anthony Wayne, 54-22.
