Minster’s Reece Albers survives contact from New Bremen’s Maria Kramer to score two of her game-high 19 points in Thursday’s sectional/district tourney win over the Cardinals. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
In a disturbing exhibition of tournament basketball…more like roller derby than pick-n-roll…Minster moves to the second round with an avenging win over rival New Bremen.
Minster, OH – Minster coach Mike Wiss reminded his girls this week of their January regular season loss to the New Bremen Cardinals…a game in which Minster clearly did not play well.
It was a game they lost 32-31, and if you know anything about Minster basketball, and Minster-style basketball…a game that might been won by something as simple as a turnover and an ensuing layup. Because that’s how Minster has played for years. They lean on their defense, create turnovers and fast break opportunities, and cash in on high-percentage shots.
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So Wiss reminded his girls of that game this week. “I asked them to play with more edge,” the two-time state champion Wiss admitted, after Thursday night’s 38-19 win, at Minster. “And they responded. Every time out, and every quarter I kept reminding them, ‘Don’t let up.’
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“That being said, you want to get the ball to certain people in certain spots. And we talk here about winning the middle eight minutes of a game. We scored late in the second quarter to get to 15-10 at halftime, and then we won the first four minutes of the third quarter. And there’s an old adage about making more free throws than your opponent shoots. And we did that.”
The fact that Wiss’s Wildcats (17-5) did it all was unquestionable. Even expected.
But the manner in the which the officials let them go about it…was highly questionable – unexpected, and in a word, unsettling to players and onlookers, alike. It looked more like the last two minutes of an NFL playoff game where cornerbacks mug wide receivers with impunity…and not the image that you expect relative to high school basketball!
There was plenty of this…Minster’s Jenna Borchers and New Bremen’s Stella Patch fight for possession of the basketball.
“It was rough,” Wiss admitted, later, speaking of the game’s first sixteen minutes. “We got away with a few in the first half, and we expected it to be called differently in the second half. But it never changed.”
How rough?
Minster pressured from the opening tip, and the Wildcats’ backcourt rode, bumped, and steered New Bremen ball-handlers all the way down the court. There was nothing dirty about it. They just played, waiting to see how much the tournament officiating crew would allow.
They forced New Bremen (8-15) to play through contact, nothing new to playoff basketball. The consensus among many high school basketball fans being…that officials are not going to call fouls during tournament games in order to prevent a parade to the foul line and to maintain pace of play.
And it was nothing new to Minster basketball. The Wildcats have won four state titles in girls basketball by playing physical defense. True to their style, they double-team the basketball whenever possible…looking to create turnovers and transition basket opportunities at the other end.
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Officiating being the subjective exercise that it is…the officials left the game to the participants. The game became rough to the point where both players and onlooking fans were waiting to see how much they would allow; and it clearly affected play. Call it defense, with a side order of Bruce Lee – no relation to former Minster coach Mike Lee.
Minster, on the strength of 9 first quarter points by Reece Albers, led 9-7 by the end of the first quarter.
Five years ago hand-checking was a point of emphasis in high school basketball. Now it’s the first line of defense.
And as the pace of the game, and the contact increased, the ‘Cats rode Jenna Belcher’s 6 points in the second quarter to a 15-10 lead by the half. New Bremen’s only points in the second quarter came on a low post basket by Sophia Tangeman, and a made free throw by Maria Kramer.
But more alarming than the lack of points was the lack of fouls. In sixteen minutes of martial arts basketball, there were just five called fouls…three on Minster and two on New Bremen.
To his point about winning the first four minutes of the third quarter, Wiss’s Wildcats never let up, and clearly won the middle eight minutes by shutting out New Bremen in those first four minutes. The Cardinals would not score until after the 5:00 mark when they scored on a pair of three-point baskets by Lexi Wilker and Allie Bornhorst. By quarter’s end there was little question that Minster’s pressure had taken its toll on New Bremen…the Wildcats leading, 26-16.
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Playoff basketball requires, as Wiss puts it, that you get the ball to certain people in certain spots. Thursday that person was clearly senior Reece Albers, who was outstanding, and scored 9 in the first, 5 in the third, and 5 points in the fourth on her way to a game-high 19 points.
Teammates Sophia Dirksen and Jenna Belcher each scored 8 points for the game. And for 29 minutes of the game…those were the only three Wildcats to score, until reserve Charlie Wolf added a bucket and free throw in the final moments of the game to conclude the scoring.
New Bremen was led by Allie Bornhorst and Halle Kuenning with 6 points each. Lexi Wilker finished with 3 points…Sophia Tangeman added 2.
“We need to work on getting points from other people,” admitted Wiss, who now advances to play Parkway on the 25th, at Wapakoneta. “We work on it in practice where we sit a player with points for two minutes and tell the others that someone else has to score.
“We’ve had our share of games this year when points came hard.”
But as long as they can play defense….
And as long as Mike Wiss can ask for, and get, that extra competitive edge, the Wildcats are in a favorable district bracket now that includes Parkway (whom they beat 44-21 on January 22), Allen East, and Riverdale.
New Bremen’s Halle Kuenning gets all ball on the shot attempt of Minster’s Reece Albers during Thursday’s 38-19 loss to the Wildcats.
With one caveat, or caution.
Expect it to be rough.
That point of emphasis about hand-checking and ‘steering’ that officials were asked to enforce five years ago? That’s as far gone from basketball now as east is from west.
If you’re easily upset, take a half dozen Valium to the game. If you’re lucky, you’ll only need two.
And don’t be afraid to make a post-game dinner reservation. Thursday night’s game, from opening tip to final horn took just 1 hour and 18 minutes to play. Because of, well…you know!
This is tournament basketball!
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