(PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
FULTON COUNTY RIVALS … Wauseon’s Sophia Rupp goes for a hoop with Archbold’s Klaire Kern trying to get in position for the charge.
ARCHBOLD SENIOR … Alanna Pedraza turns the corner on a drive in the first half.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
ARCHBOLD (February 6, 2025) – Everyone says basketball can turn into a game of runs. In a back-and-forth affair much of the night, it was Wauseon who had a 7-0 mini burst at the end of the first half, then a 9-0 spurt in the fourth, parlaying those into a 43-39 win over Archbold.
“We talked before the game that these are the games that we need,” Wauseon coach Shelly Borton said. “We need these kinds of games, to be in close ballgames in different situations to prepare us for the tournament.”
“Every tournament game you aren’t guaranteed you have another to go to until you win, so games like this prepare you for that.”
Back-and-forth might be an understatement as there were no less than 11 ties or lead changes in the first quarter.
Wauseon broke that string when Mackenzie Stasa fed Marin Leatherman for a layup with 40 seconds left to put the Indians on top 11-8.
Miley Gericke’s fast break hoop with 18 ticks on the clock regained the lead for Archbold, but that disappeared when Tegan Hamilton buried a corner triple with 4.3 left that put the Tribe up again 14-12 at quarter’s end.
Archbold’s Klaire Kern hit a bomb from the deep right wing to start the second and initiated another string of five ties and lead transitions, the last coming when Kern hit Gericke for a runout hoop to knot the game 19-19 with 3:00 left.
That’s when Wauseon scored on three straight possessions to create some distance. Johanna Tester found an open Ella Tule, then Stasa tacked on a steal and score to put the Indians up 23-19.
Sophia Rupp finished the 7-0 run, hitting a long triple after the last of Archbold’s 13 first half turnovers to make it 26-19.
“I felt like we were rushing some things in the first half,” Borton said of the way the Indians closed the half.
“In the second I thought we got a little better defensively in the half court. It was different people at different times and that has kind of been our motto all year. We had different kids step up and hit shots during that run.”
Gericke beat the press to close the gap to 26-21 at the break. The teams alternated scores much of the third with the Indians taking a 33-29 lead into the fourth.
Charlee Forward chopped the deficit to a point when she dropped a trey from the top of the key, and Gericke forced the last tie of the evening, splitting a pair from the line with 6:09 to go.
For the next four minutes, it was Tester time. The Indians’ athletic senior scored on a spin move, then working out of the spread, she fed Aunali Reyes twice on the block for easy baskets to open a 39-33 lead.
“She has come so far in the last couple seasons offensively” Borton expressed of Tester. “She is unbelievably athletic both on the defensive and offensive end.”
“She has learned to understand that when she puts the ball on the floor, she can blow by about anybody. “I felt like she kind of took that on tonight because she’s strong and put the time in on the court.”
Stasa split two from the stripe then also dished to Reyes for her third bucket of the fourth to open a 42-33 gap with a minute left.
Some shoddy Wauseon free throw shooting allowed the Streaks to close the gap at the end as Gericke canned five straight points in the last 20 seconds.
After going 6-8 in the first quarter, Archbold shot just 24 percent the rest of the night with 18 turnovers. Wauseon shot 42 percent and had 14 turnovers but was just 4-17 from the foul line.
Gericke was the only player to reach double figures with 16.
Wauseon (17-4, 4-2 NWOAL) finishes regular season play at Bryan on Monday, then opens the Division IV tournament hosting Van Wert in a sectional final on Thursday with Archbold (16-6, 4-3 NWOAL) also hosting a sectional final in Division V against Paulding on Thursday.
WAUSEON (43) – Stasa 5; Tester 6; Leatherman 9; Coronado 2; Hamilton 3; Rupp 5; Tule 4; Reyes 9; Totals: 15-3-4 – 43
ARCHBOLD (39) – Pedraza 0; Forward 7; Kinsman 0; Thiel 5; Gericke 16; Wendt 3; Meyer 0; Bowers 0; Kern 8; Totals: 11-2-11 – 39
WHS 14 12 7 10 – 43
AHS 12 9 8 10 – 39
Junior Varsity: Archbold, 22-11