By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
BLUFFTON (March 3, 2026) – If you just look at the final statistics from Tuesday night’s regional semifinal, you might think Miller City won.
The Wildcats forced 22 Stryker turnovers and pulled down 14 offensive rebounds. Those two factors contributed to Miller City taking 29 more shots from the floor than Stryker.
But that wasn’t the case. Stryker hit nearly 50% of its shots from the field and were a blistering 19-for-21 (90%) from the foul line and held off Miller City 44-39 at Bluffton University.
“Not really, ha,” said Stryker head coach Conner Ruffer when asked if the foul line has been a strength for her squad this season.
“I think we have a whole new mindset now that we are making this run. Grace, Aubrey, and Khloe had no fear going up to the line.
“They made some huge free throws when it mattered with no hesitation or fear. We were also smart on the defensive end in that 4th quarter as we stayed at four team fouls for a long time, never getting that fifth to send them to the line either.”
Three-pointers accounted for the scoring in a very low scoring first quarter. Stryker’s Abby Oberlin opened the scoring by splashing a trey from the right wing.
Kiera Ruhe hit from deep twice to put the Wildcats up 6-3 after one quarter as their pressure defense harassed Stryker into six first quarter turnovers.
Aubrey Clemens scored the first six points for Stryker in the second with an and-one on a drive and then a trey from the left corner for a 9-6 Panthers lead.
Khloe Goebel would go 2-for-2 from the line to extend the lead to 11-6 before Miller City scored their first points of the quarter at the 2:42 mark with a layup by Sophia Ruck.
Anna Donovan answered with a bucket inside off a pass from Grace Froelich and Miller City would get the final points of the half on a trey by Anna Lammers to cut the Stryker lead to 13-11.
The Wildcats tallied the first three points of the third to grab a 14-13 lead with 6:00 left in the quarter.
A 14-1 run by Stryker ensued as Miller City made just 1-of-12 shots in the quarter. Two free throws by Donovan gave Stryker the lead back and Clemens nailed a triple from the left wing to make it 18-14.
After a Miller City free throw, Stryker would score the last nine points of the quarter.
Grace Froelich registered her first bucket of the night and then Goebel connected for three from the right side to make 23-15 with 2:15 left in the third.
Following a Wildcat timeout, Reiss Creighton took her turn at drilling a trey from the right wing and Froelich added a charity toss to give Stryker a 27-15 lead heading to the fourth.
It took Miller City just 57 seconds to cut the Stryker lead in half in the final stanza. Ruck knocked down a three from the top of the key and then turned in a conventional three-point play to make it 27-21.
Goebel scored inside to momentarily stop the Wildcat momentum but then seven straight points by Miller City and a rash of Stryker turnovers, cut the lead to one at 29-28.
Stryker would then begin to take advantage of Miller City committing five team fouls relatively early in the quarter.
Donovan and Goebel each would go 2-for-2 at the line and Goebel hit a jumper in the lane after the teams exchanged turnovers under the Stryker basket for a 35-31 lead.
Stryker then countered Miller City field goals with makes at the foul line. Froelich connected on four in a row and Clemens was 5-for-6 to snuff out the Miller City rally.
“We knew we were going to have some turnovers versus their pressure, so we zoned in on how we were going to react when that happens. No pouting, not fouling, just getting back and not allowing it to turn into transition points for them,” said Ruffer.
“I thought we did that well for the most part, until we let them make their run there at the end.
“We wanted to control the tempo of the game, and a big part of that was taking our time on offense. We play great team offense- always getting the great shot, not just the good one.”
Stryker went 13-for-14 at the line in the fourth to offset Miller City’s 9-for-24 shooting from the floor as Miller City outscored Stryker 24-17 in the quarter.
Stryker finished the night 10-for-22 (45%) shooting with five of their field goals coming from long range.
Clemens tallied a game-high 14 and Goebel finished with 11 for Stryker (22-4).
Miller City hit 14-for-51 (27%) from the floor, including 5-for-21 from deep. Ruck fronted the Wildcats (23-3) with 12 points and Vivian Otto added nine.
Another Putnam County League member awaits the Panthers in the finals. Stryker will face Ottoville (22-4) in Saturday’s final at Bluffton University. The Lady Green beat Tiffin Calvert 52-40 in the other semifinal.
STRYKER (44) – Froelich 7; Donovan 6; Oberlin 3; Ruffer 0; R. Creighton 3; A. Clemens 14; Goebel 11; Totals: 5-5-19 – 44
MILLER CITY (39) – Otto 9; Ruck 12; E. Erford 5; Ruhe 9; Schnipke 0; Lammers 3; B. Kuhlman 0; Hunt 0; K. Erford 1; Totals: 9-5-6 – 39
SHS 3 10 14 17 – 44
MCHS 6 5 4 24 – 39