Columbus Grove’s Laurynn Auchmuty scores the go-ahead bucket with under a minute to go in Friday’s 43-40 win over Minster in the Div. VI state semi-final game in Elida. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
The Wildcats and Columbus Grove engaged in a 32-minute defensive battle until the Bulldogs’ best player scored the final four points for a three-point victory.
Elida, OH – From the first day of practice and into March, Minster girls basketball coach Mike Wiss often said high school basketball seasons are about making memories.
Good and bad.
The bad memory from Friday night’s trip to a packed-to-the-rafters, sold-out, 3,000-seat Elida Fieldhouse is the result. The Wildcats lost 43-40 loss to Columbus Grove in a turnover-filled Division VI state semifinal. And the opportunity for the anticipated memories of playing at UD Arena were washed away because, starting this season, only the state finals are played there.
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The good?
When Wiss’ players reflect on the memorable moments of bus rides, they will remember this lesson: “One of the things we say before we get off the bus is never give up, never let up,” Wiss said.
Then the Wildcats (22-6) will remember how that was true of their performance in the state semifinals despite the heartbreaking loss. They recovered from a seven-point deficit late in the third quarter, a four-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter and down one in the final minute.
Wiss said those words about not giving up were spoken in a couple of timeouts when the Wildcats trailed.
“And we came right back, made a little run and got us back into the game,” he said. “Those moments when you’re down and you gotta fight back, and then you lost it again and you’re down and you gotta fight back, that doesn’t happen without senior leadership. And I’m really proud of the four that we have.”
Minster coach Mike Wiss watches the final seconds of the 2025 season slip away 3 points short in the state semi-finals.
Addie Inskeep, one of the senior leaders who did her part with nine points and six rebounds, made a strong move on the baseline with 29 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 40-39 lead. They will talk about that play at reunions and about how they thought that would be enough. Because the way the Wildcats play pressure man-to-man defense gave them confidence that they would ride the bus to UD Arena next Saturday and play for a championship.
“I don’t know that everybody gave us a shot to be here when November started,” Wiss said. “But all the sudden Minster’s sitting one game from going to UD and we had the lead with minute or so to go.”
But Columbus Grove (26-2) senior guard Lauryn Auchmuty made a lasting good memory for her team, school and community. She found a rare path to the basket against Minster’s defense and made a contested layup for a 41-40 lead with 15 seconds left.
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Auchmuty was fouled and missed the free throw. But Grove freshman Aubrey Schroeder grabbed the offensive rebound. Inskeep ripped the ball away, but she was the last to touch it before it went out of bounds with 13 seconds left.
Auchmuty got the ball on the inbounds play and was fouled with nine seconds left. This time she made both free throws for a three-point lead. Minster had time, but as had been the case against Grove’s active 2-3 zone for four quarters, the Wildcats didn’t get a clean look at the basket and their desperation shot fell short of the rim.
Minster’s Reece Albers snaps off a three-point bucket in the second half to bring the Wildcats’ back from a seven-point deficit.
Auchmuty, Grove’s best player, scored only two points in the first half. Minster led 15-12 at the half on Sadie Niemeyer’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer. So Grove head coach Brian Schroeder adjusted his offense in the second half and it ignited the Bulldogs and Auchmuty, who finished with 15 points.
“It was a rough start for her for sure, but part of it is Minster’s so good defensively and they’re so physical with you,” Schroeder said. “We put a lot on her shoulders to be able to create advantages for our offense and get ball movement.”
Schroeder took the blame for not creating ball movement that would allow Auchmuty to attack the basket. So he fixed it by taking the ball out of Auchmuty’s hands to start the offense, moved her to the side and ball movement improved.
“We went side to side a little bit, and then when she got it back, she could attack downhill,” he said.
Searching diligently for ways to score was a must. Minster’s 32 minutes of ball pressure from endline to endline, produced 25 Grove turnovers, but the Wildcats didn’t convert nearly enough of them into points.
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A reason was because of Grove’s 32-minute full-court defensive style. The Bulldogs pressured the ball the second the Wildcats got it and slowed the transition attempts off Minster’s 14 steals. After the Bulldogs scored, they used a 1-2-2 full-court zone and dropped into a 2-3 zone. They also dropped seamlessly into the 2-3 in transition.
Minster’s Sadie Niemeyer threads.a pass around a Columbus Grove defender during the first half of Friday’s state semi-final game in Elida.
“When you get to this point you rely on what you do,” Wiss said. “What they did is what they do, and what we did is what we do. It was two good teams going at it. And, honest to goodness, northwest Ohio’s got some pretty good basketball. The atmosphere was great, and that speaks to northwest Ohio.”
The atmosphere took a while to build as the defenses slugged it out. The Grove side was in a tizzy late in the third quarter when Auchmuty led a fast-paced 7-0 run gave them a 30-23 lead, the biggest lead for either team.
“Both play physical styles, but there was a stretch where our team speed helped us quite a bit,” Schroeder said. “They’re so good in the half court, and they’re athletic as well. But if it’s a bit of a chaotic, up-and-down game, we have some pretty good track athletes.”
Minster, however, responded to Grove’s speed with a lightning-quick 7-0 run. Inskeep’s pass from the foul line underneath to a wide-open Sophia Dirksen with four seconds left began the run. Dirksen, who along with Reece Albers led the Wildcats with 10 points each, was fouled and missed the free throw, but the Wildcats got the rebound, passed out to Dirksen, and she hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Albers tied the score for Minster with two free throws to start the fourth, capping a 7-0 run in 28 seconds, and the Minster side was in a frenzy.
“It’s March Madness,” Wiss said. “We’re all going to watch it when it comes on TV here soon. Sometimes we say what are you going to do in your moment and some moments are good and some moments aren’t so good. We’re going to remember the good ones, and tonight there were plenty of good ones.”
The bus ride home wasn’t the enthusiastic moment the Wildcats wanted. But the night – some of it good, some of it bad – made lasting memories for them.
Columbus Grove’s pressure forces a turnover by Minster Kali Schmiesing during the second half of Friday’s Division VI state semi-final game.
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