Minster’s defense, with Allie Hemmelgarn (#4), puts the squeeze on Parkway shooter Madelyn Stover during Thursday’s 44-21 Wildcat win. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Minster’s defense was as good as it’s ever been, holding the Parkway Panthers scoreless for two quarters Thursday to cruise to its 13th win of the season.
Minster, OH – On paper it was the marquee matchup in MAC girls basketball Thursday night – 13-2 Parkway against 12-3 Minster.
On paper!
Dorsten Contracting proudly supports Shelby County League sports on Press Pros.
On the court? A different matter. Why ex-Eagle defensive back and ESPN analyst Herm Edwards famously said, “It’s why you play the game.”
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
For years under Mike Wiss Minster has been known for its stingy defense, and the Wildcats came out Thursday night and suffocated a Parkway offense that had previously averaged 44 points a game…to just 21; and over a span of 22 minutes and 27 seconds held the Panthers without a point in a 44-21 Minster win that had Wiss both blushing and smiling afterwards.
“Defensively, you try to take away the opponent’s strengths,” said Wiss, matter-of-factly. “And they have a couple of players that you just can’t let get started. You can’t let them get good looks.”
Boy, howdy to that. The Wildcats held Brittyn Bruns and Madelyn Stover to 2 and 6 points, respectively, so obviously there weren’t a lot of good looks allowed.
The Panthers’ 6’1″ Megan Hughes, the tallest player on the court, had 4 points in the first quarter and never scored again until the final four minutes of the fourth quarter.
Early turnovers by Parkway helped Minster to a 17-8 lead in the first quarter. Josephine Hoying tips the ball loose (above).
And collectively, Minster held the entire Parkway roster scoreless for the second and third quarter, and by the time Parkway finally scored on a stickback, nearly two minutes into the fourth, the game was decided. The only real excitement came when Minster reserve Alivia Heckman cast a three-pointer from the corner to conclude the game’s scoring…and got a standing ovation from the bench and a rousing cheer from the crowd. Heckman doesn’t hit many of those kind of shots.
There were early omens.
Parkway turned the ball over five times against Minster’s pressure defense in the opening quarter and Minster turned those turnovers into 8 easy points on layups and open looks at the rim.
Minster Bank is a proud sponsor of the MAC Conference on Press Pros Magazine.com.
The Panthers came out in a zone defense that stymied Minster’s ability to get to the rim. But they got there enough to run out to a 17-8 lead by the end of the first quarter. And up by 9 to start the second, the Wildcats had the luxury of making the extra pass…or six…or twelve until Parkway made a mistake in their zone.
Jenna Belcher cans two of her game-high 13 points during the second half of Minster’s 44-21 win over Parkway.
But as happens sometimes with trying to rebound out of a zone defense, the Panthers somehow lost their edge on offense, coupled with nine total turnovers in the first half. The harder they tried the more frustrated they became, and the more ominous the scoreboard clock became because by halftime it was obvious that the Panthers had failed to score in the second quarter.
In fact, Minster barely scored, themselves. Only Jenna Belcher coaxed a bucket in the eight minutes for the Wildcats who went to the locker room having won the quarter 2-0…and the first half, 19-8.
Again in the third Minster didn’t score much, but they didn’t need to because they could take chunks of time off the clock while navigating around the Parkway zone. They scored 7…Parkway again didn’t score at all…and Minster upped their advantage to 27-8 with a quarter to go.
Huffer Chiropractic can help your athlete perform at their best – with offices in Osgood, Jackson Center, Marysville, and Dublin, Ohio.
Finally, Parkway coach Dan Williamson changed from the zone to man-to-man defense in the fourth quarter. And whether by fate, or advantage, guard Madelyn Stover finally scored on an offensive rebound in the second minute of the fourth quarter to break the spell. And as fate would have it, of course, Parkway would go on to score 13 in the quarter, but it was far too little, and far too late. Minster walked off with the 44-21 win.
Mike Wiss can find a lot of things to talk about relative to ways to win a basketball game.
Defense, of course.
Points in transition has always been a staple with the Wildcats.
But patience played a big role in Thursday’s win, as Wiss’s team took the time to make the extra pass, kill clock with a lead, and literally squeeze time and opportunity away from Parkway’s offense.
“And you know, we had a three-minute possession,” beamed Wiss. “Yes, we pride ourselves on defense, but we also take what their defense gives us. And on that possession they didn’t give us much. And I’m not a person if something’s not working to call ’em out and start a new set. I’m going to keep running through it, and there were probably a dozen reversals in that set. We made one adjustment in the second half, we attacked a bit more, Jenna Belcher got some runouts in the fourth quarter, and I thought Sophia Dirksen played well.
Parkway’s Brittyn Bruns plows through the ‘Cats’ Josephine Hoying attempting to score.
“I’m pleased that we came out in a MAC game against a really good team and played that well.”
But…would he have ventured that his team would hold a good team like Parkway scoreless for that long? Would he have bet the house on it?
“Nope,” Wiss smiled. “Not at all.”
They scored 25 points in the second half, and 44 for the game…Jenna Belcher with 13, Reece Albers and Sophia Dirksen with 10 each, Alise Albers with 4, Alivia Heckman with her 3, and defensive specialist Annie Hemmelgarn with 2. The ‘Cats shot a good percentage (17 of 35) and hit 3 of 4 from the foul line.
For Parkway, they shot 31% from the field with Madelyn Stover and Megan Hughes each netting 6 points. Colbie Smith and Abby Williamson each had 3 points, Brittyn Bruns had 2, and Megan Nichols had 1. They hit 4 of 5 from the line (80%) and finished the game with 16 turnovers.
By the way, Minster is accustomed to low scoring games, themselves. Their only MAC loss of the season came against St. Henry when they only scored 22 in a 25-22 loss to the undefeated Redskins. And now 5-1 in MAC play, Minster will need some help, but they’ve still got a shot at a share of the conference lead. St. Henry still has a date with Parkway (13-3, 3-3) coming up on February 5th.
Wilson Health/Orthopedics proudly sponsors the best in area sports and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Press Pros.