(February 28th, 2015) – SPENCERVILLE: Maddie Richer stepped up in a big way in the Lady Indians victory in the Sectional Finals against Celina. The senior girl knocked down 5 threes on her way to 19 points as for Wauseon.
The Lady Indians defeated the Bulldogs 64-52.
Things were tight in the game’s opening quarter. Mid-way through the period, the two squads were knotted up at 6 points apiece. Yet Wauseon closed out the frame on a 5-0 run to take an 11-6 lead.
They would never trail from that point on.
In the second period, the Wauseon girls increased their defensive efforts. They held their counterparts from Celina to just 3 points in that span, giving themselves ample room to expand their advantage. The Indians did just that, exploding offensively with 17 points. This gave them a cushion of 14 points going into the half, 28-14.
Wauseon didn’t slow things down in the second half. In fact, they picked up right where they left off in the third quarter, tacking on 16 more points to their total. Celina tried to keep pace, managing 12 points of their own, which kept them from falling behind by 20 points.
With an 18 point lead heading into the final stanza, the Lady Indians looked as though they would cruise to victory. The Bulldogs had one last run in them, however. Celina cut into the Wauseon advantage early in the fourth quarter, cutting their deficit down to 10 points. That would be as close as they’d get, though, as the Indian girls held on for a 12 point win to advance to Districts.
Aside from Richer’s incredible evening shooting the ball, Natalie Koenig stood out with her performance. Playing great defense and scoring in transition, as well as driving the ball hard to the rim and connecting on a three-point attempt, the senior standout put up 13 points in the win. A third senior, Sariah Yackee, offered up 9 points to the Wauseon effort as well.
Wauseon will take on Wapakoneta on March 5 in Paulding.