Jays pull away from Cavs

By Jim Metcalfe, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Saturday, February 2, 2008 (3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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COLDWATER — With a battle at Ottoville coming up Saturday, the St. John’s girls basketball team could have been “forgiven” for looking past Coldwater Thursday night.
In the mind of Blue Jay mentor Dan J. Grothouse, his Blue Jays didn’t need to as they pulled away from the Lady Cavaliers 45-27 in Midwest Athletic Conference action at The Palace of Coldwater High School.
“We’ve never talked about Ottoville; now we can. I’m sure there’s been talk among the girls and in the school but not from us,” Grothouse noted. “These girls have a great capacity to focus on one game at a time. Tonight, that was Coldwater. Tomorrow, it will be all Ottoville.”
The Lady Jays (16-2, 7-1 MAC) came out a house of fire, downing 8-of-10 shots (19-of-35 for the game, 4-of-10 beyond the arc, for 54.3%) behind eight markers from sophomore Zefyrin Bryan (17 counters, 7 boards total) and four from classmate Lindsy Reindel (11 points). The Lady Cavaliers (2-16, 1-7 MAC) answered with 2-of-8 shooting (9-of-37 total, 2-of-6 treys, for 24.3%). All told, the Jays led by as much as 15 before a pull-up jumper by Ali Wenning (5 points) with 45 ticks showing made the hosts’ deficit 18-5.
The Cavaliers changed up defensively in the second period, showing some full-court diamond-and-1 pressure to go with their 2-3 zone and man-to-man half-court schemes. The Jays struggled to find the rhythm they had established in the opener, shooting 1-of-9, as did the home team. When Wenning dropped the second-of-2 throws with 2.2 ticks on the board, Coldwater was within 20-11.
“They switched up defensively on us and we got a little stagnant against it,” Grothouse continued. “We weren’t moving as sharply or cutting as crisply. Still, our defense didn’t let us down when we struggled offensively; we hung in.”
Bryan and Reindel got it rolling in period 3, splitting the 14 markers the Blue and Gold put on the board in the stanza. Meantime, Kara Uhlenhake and Kelley Lefeld (5 caroms) each scored all five of their game points in the canto to keep the Cavaliers in striking distance. The Jays’ lead fluctuated between 9 and 14, settling for a 34-23 advantage on Lefeld’s jumper from the right elbow 4.1 ticks before the horn.
The visitors asserted control in period 4, especially with senior Sarah Clark (12 boards) scoring eight (2 3s) of her 11 markers (3 treys) in the canto. Their largest lead was 44-25 as the Jays’ second team finished the night.
“You’re always looking to get better at what you’ve been working on all season; I think that’s getting done,” Grothouse added. “You want to simply execute your offense and defense better, which we are doing. You also want to stay healthy this late in the year.”
St. John’s hit 3-of-5 free throws (60%), secured 26 off the glass (6 offensive) and totaled 10 errors and 11 fouls. That matchup with Ottoville begins with a 6 p.m. JV tip Saturday.
Coldwater drained 7-of-9 singles (77.8%), nabbed 18 rebounds (8 offensive) and added nine miscues and 10 infractions.
In the JV ranks, St. John’s (16-2, 7-1) threw an 8-0 shutout in period 3 and outscored the Cavaliers (8-10) 13-8 in the fourth for a 34-23 victory.
April Grothouse led the way with nine for the victors; Rachel Geier countered for the hosts with 12.

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