Kylie Sauder knocks down a shot in the second half against Wauseon. Sauder would later hit the game winner for the Lady Streaks as time expired. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING)
By: Nate Calvin
WAUSEON, OHIO-The third meeting of the year between the Fulton County rivals went right down to the final horn.
Archbold’s Kylie Sauder was able to get open on a baseline inbounds play with 3.4 seconds remaining and knocked down the shot from left of the lane as time expired to give Archbold a 29-27 win and sending the Lady Streaks to the Division III sectional finals.
Wauseon got buckets from Marisa Seiler and Hayley Meyer to open the game as the duo scored all eight of Wauseon’s first quarter points while Archbold was just 1/12 from the field in the first.
A Meyer field goal extended the Wauseon advantage to 10-2 in the opening seconds of the second quarter before the momentum of the game began to swing in Archbold’s favor.
Wauseon point guard Autumn Pelok left the game briefly at the end of the first quarter with an injury and Archbold took advantage of Wauseon’s primary ballhandler being on the sideline.
The Streaks cranked up the defense forcing a series of Wauseon turnovers as they went on an 8-0 run with triples from Addie Ziegler and Karsyn Hostetler sandwiched around a steal and layup by Sauder to trim the Wauseon lead to 12-11 at halftime.
Archbold was just 4/22 shooting in the first half, but was aided by ten Wauseon turnovers, eight of them coming in the second quarter.
The third quarter started with Meyer getting loose inside for a hoop, but Hostetler answered for Archbold with her second three-pointer of the night to tie the game at 14-14.
Seiler broke the tie with a bucket before Addison Moyer was 1/2 at the line and Ziegler knocked down a jumper to give Archbold their first lead of the night at 17-16.
The teams traded field goals to end quarter with Seiler scoring on an offensive rebound and Sauder with a basket to put Archbold in front 19-18 heading to the final quarter.
The fourth quarter again saw the teams trading field goals with Meyer and Seiler scoring for Wauseon and Moyer had a hoop for Archbold as the score was now 23-21 Wauseon.
Sauder would tie the game again with an offensive rebound putback and after Harley Phillips was 2/2 at the free throw line, the Streaks had a 25-23 lead with 2:35 remaining.
It was then Meyer’s turn to respond as she scored on another offensive rebound to again tie the score, this time 25-25.
Two free throws from Hostetler were matched by a layup from Wauseon’s Chelsie Raabe to deadlock the game at 27-27.
The Indians were able to steal the ensuing inbounds pass and had a shot for the lead, but it was off the mark.
Archbold started the final possession with 22.6 on the clock and Phillips was then fouled with 3.4 remaining, setting up the inbounds play following a timeout.
Wauseon ended the night 12/27 (44%) from the floor with 14 turnovers while Archbold was 10/41 (24%) with three triples and committed nine turnovers.
Sauder finished with 10 points and Hostetler added eight for Archbold. Meyer had a game-high 14 points for the Lady Indians and Seiler tallied 11.
Archbold (11-10) will now travel to Swanton on Saturday night for the Division III sectional finals at 7pm.
Wauseon’s season ends with a record of 15-6.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Archbold 2 9 8 10 29
Wauseon 8 4 6 9 27
Nate can be reached at publisher@thepublisher@thevillagereporter.com