By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
MILLER CITY (March 2, 2024) – The Golden Bears led by as many as 18 points in the first half and survived a flurry of triples in the second half by Liberty-Benton for a 61-54 win and their second straight district title.
Ella Voigt’s triple from the right wing and a layup by Anna Gray on a run out gave Bryan a 5-0 lead, as the Golden Bears would never trail.
Marah Smith converted a three-point play on a nice left-hand finish at the hoop, but Sophia Barbara knocked down a pair of three balls for the Eagles to make it an 8-6 game.
L-B switched briefly to a 2-3 zone defense and the Bears had the answer as Smith and Ella Rau connected on treys and Gray scored on a drive to make it 16-8 after one quarter.
The Bryan run continued to start the second quarter on the shoulders of Voigt who would get two layups before drilling consecutive triples as the lead ballooned to 26-8 with 4:03 left in the first half.
Bryan though would go the remainder of the half without a field goal as the Eagles ended the half with a 7-1 spurt led by Bowling Green commit Lauren Gerken with a layup and a trey from the top of the circle to trim the Bryan lead to 27-15 at halftime.
It was Gerken again asserting herself to open the second half with a three-point play off an offensive rebound as the Bryan lead was down to eight.
Bryan responded to push the lead back to double figures at 35-21 after a Gray bucket, a three-point play from Kailee Thiel and a triple from the wing by Thiel.
The Eagles fought back with a 10-4 run to close out the third aided by two more three-point plays from Gerken, the first one off a steal and the second after rebounding her own miss to cut the Bryan lead to 39-31.
The Bears regained momentum to start the fourth quarter thanks to an 8-0 run as Thiel had two free throws and a bucket inside, Rau was 2/2 at the stripe, and Voigt added a score to increase the lead to 47-31.
L-B wouldn’t go away as they came back with a 13-4 surge by knocking down two of their four triples in the final frame while Gerken and freshman Corra Dehart added bucket each to cut the deficit to 51-44.
Gray had the Bryan response with a hoop and some harm for three-point play to push the lead to 54-44 with under 2:00 remaining.
Gerken kept the Eagles within striking distance as she would score inside and add two free throws before Barbara would hit a triple from the left corner, her third of the night, to make the score 56-51 with 50 seconds on the clock.
Thiel hit two at the stripe, but L-B drained one more trey, their eighth of the game and fifth in the second half, as Dehart connected from the right corner to cut the lead to 58-54 with 19.6 left.
The Bears would close it out though at the line by going 3/4 in the finals seconds and the Eagles coming up empty on their final possessions.
Bryan went 14/19 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help them survive 7/11 shooting from the field, including four makes from deep, by Liberty-Benton (20-6).
After scoring 18 points in the second half during Bryan’s semifinal win over Toledo Rogers, Thiel again turned in a big second half performance by scoring 16 of her 17 points.
Voigt finished with a team-high 18 for Bryan with 13 of those coming in the first half.
Gerken was the lone Eagle in double digits with 22 points to lead all scorers.
Bryan (25-1) will take on Granville (25-1) in the regional semifinals on Tuesday at 6pm at Mansfield Senior High School.
L. BENTON (54) – May 5; Barbara 9; Hooper 3; Gerken 22; Crow 6; Dehart 9; Totals: 11-8-8 – 54
BRYAN (61) – Zimmerman 0; Voigt 18; Gray 9; Rau 6; Smith 9; Thiel 17; Arnold 2; Totals: 13-6-17 – 61
L. BENTON 8 7 16 23 – 54
BRYAN 16 11 12 22 – 61
GAME STATISTICS
L. BENTON: FG – 19/45 (42%); FT – 8/12 (66%); Rebounds – 23 (8 offensive); Turnovers – 11; BRYAN: FG – 19/39 (48%); FT – 17/23 (73%); Rebounds – 20 (3 offensive); Turnovers – 10