(December 2nd, 2014) – WAUSEON: For three quarters of the game, the Lady Bluestreaks went toe to toe with the hometown girls of Wauseon on the Lady Indians’ own court. During those periods, the two titans of the North Western Ohio Athletic League battled back and forth in an epic struggle that one could only expect in a contest between two heated rivals.
There was that first quarter, however, which made all the difference in the 63-51 Wauseon victory.
For a majority of the opening stanza to what was otherwise a tight clash between hated foes, the Archbold girls were held scoreless by a stingy Indian defense. During that same span, the Wauseon offense flourished. The spark of their scoring renaissance was the aforementioned defense, which allowed the Lady Indians to convert a few steals into easy lay-ups or, if the Blue Streaks were close enough to make contact, trips to the free throw line.
And the charity stripe was quite kind to Wauseon. The home team made 21 of their 26 attempts at the line during the course of the game. This put them at an proficient 81% free throw percentage. That’s not to say the girls from Archbold didn’t have success from the line as well. They made 32 appearances at the free throw line. The visiting Blue Steaks couldn’t capitalize on the extra shots, however, placing just 22 at the bottom of the net. That was good for 69% shooting.
One player who excelled from the line was Natalie Koenig, who connected on 11 of 13 shots for an 85% success rate. Routinely driving the ball down the court on the break, not to mention her ability to penetrate through the heart of their defense, it should come as no surprise that Archbold would resort to fouling her so much. By the end of the game, Koenig had totaled 28 points to go along with her 6 assist, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals. The assists were especially impressive, as she was able to recognize the attention she was drawing from Archbold defenders and was able to get her teammates more involved in the offense.
A player to benefit from this attention being diverted was fellow senior Sally Frank. The 5’4” front court player went 6 of 8 from the floor on her way to a 16 point evening. Frank also pulled down 5 rebounds. For the game, she completed 75% of her field goals.
While not quite that high, the Lady Indians shot incredibly well as a team. Overall, they hit 51% of their total field goals. This included a 40% day from the three-point line. This is an area where the Wauseon defense really thrived, as they held the Lady Blue Streaks to just 25% from the floor, due in large part to them only being allowed a 27% on the normally reliable two-point field goals.
Maddie Richer helped the Lady Indians with their 3-point percentage, making 1 of her 2 attempts from behind the arc. Richer had a bit of a rough day, scoring only 7 points on a night where the shots just wouldn’t go down. That didn’t stop her from bringing in 3 rebounds, as well as making 2 assists and a steal, however.
As for the rebounding margin, Wauseon edged out the competition with 26 rebounds to Archbold’s 25. Most of these rebounds came on the defensive side of the floor for the Indians, who reigned in 21 of them off of missed Blue Streak shots. The Archbold girls were more balanced in their rebounding, though, as 13 of them came on the offensive end. This diversity in rebounding was the result of the high number of Wauseon shots made, and the high number of Archbold missed attempts.
Nowhere was this differential more noticeable than in the first quarter of play. Every Archbold shot was contested, and the Lady Indians already had 11 points on the scoreboard before the Blue Streaks scored their first points, which came from the free throw line. Wauseon shared the basketball, and ran the floor well during that period. When the buzzer went off to signify the end of the quarter, the Indians held a 16-5 lead.
Segmented by quarter, the scores of the other three periods were extremely close. Archbold actually outscored the Indians in the second quarter, 20-19, while the third quarter saw the two teams battle to a 10-10 tie. Wauseon narrowly won the fourth quarter, 18-16.
In the sports world, where clichés rule the day, games are said to be won in the fourth quarter. This game broke that stereotype. Instead, it was a strong start that gave Wauseon the edge against the hated Blue Streaks.
The first quarter made all the difference.
