Karlee Buschur scored a team high of 11 points in the win over the Minster Wildcats in the Division VI regional semifinal. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie Wright-Daniel)
Being the first to win something is rare at St. Henry, but the girls basketball team is on the cusp after beating Minster in a Division VI regional semifinal Wednesday night.
By Marcus Hartman For Press Pros
Springfield, OH — Minster did not have to be the opponent St. Henry took down in a Division VI regional semifinal Wednesday night.
Veteran columnist Marcus Hartman writes the Buckeyes and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
A win over anyone would have been as sweet, especially for a Redskins program that only made it to the regional final once before.
It sure didn’t hurt getting a historic win against a historic program with four state championships, though.
“It’s a huge deal for us, especially because they’re a MAC team,” St. Henry senior Karlee Buschur said after the Redskins’ 39-23 win at Springfield High School. “We’ve had a lot of tight, intense competition between us, and even though we didn’t have like the best offensive day, it was good defense by both teams, and I think we executed well.”
Buschur, still sporting eight stitches over her right eye from a close encounter during St. Henry’s district final win over Marion Local last week, had earned the right to smile after scoring a team-high 11 points.
Although history might have made the win feel even better when the game was over, the present undoubtedly favors the Redskins.
They entered with a record of 23-1, already having secured the MAC championship and a 25-22 win over Minster in December.
This time around, St. Henry led 5-2 at the end of a first quarter that got more physical with each possession.
Minster’s Sophia Dirksen doesn’t make it easy for St Henry’s Molly Wendell to try to score.
While hand checking was kept to a minimum, it became a free-for-all if anyone happened to find their way to the basket.
That would change as the game went on, but in the early going the lane was not a safe place to be for anyone with designs on shooting the ball.
Minster senior Reece Albers had a bank shot rim out after a lengthy first possession of the second quarter, then the Wildcats could hardly get the ball back in a sequence that proved to be decisive.
Minster’s Jenna Belcher fouled Addy Homan shooting a 3 — there was no ignoring this one because she was knocked for the floor with a thud — and Homan made all three free throws.
The Wildcats then lost the ball trying to inbound it, an unforced error that eventually led to a 3 by Buschur.
Then the Redskins took the ball away in the backcourt and Molly Wendel was fouled on a drive (believe it or not).
She made both free throws, and St. Henry suddenly led 13-2.
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Minster coach Mike Wiss called timeout after that, but whatever he said didn’t take.
The Cats turned it over again, and Buscher went the distance for a layup for St. Henry. 15-2.
That led to another Wiss timeout, and this one was more effective.
St Henry’s Alexis Buschur guards Minster’s Madison Eilerman.
Kali Schmiesing scored a fast break layup off a steal to at least end Minster’s scoring drought, though Albers had a chance to cut further into the lead and missed two free throws.
After a Morgan Baumer 3 for St. Henry, Sophia Dirksen hit a trey for the Wildcats.
Minster got the next point, too, when Charley Wolf made a free throw at the 40-second mark, but Buschur got that back when she split a pair of free throws 22 seconds later.
With time ticking down in the second quarter, Albers saw a rare glimpse of daylight in the defense for the Redskins and didn’t waste it.
She sliced down the lane and banked in a scoop shot off the glass with three seconds left to send the Wildcats to the locker room down only nine.
Reece Albers goes to the basket for Minster against St. Henry.
That had to feel like a relief for the underdogs after they faced the 15-2 hole with four minutes to go.
“I thought we went in at halftime with a little bit of energy,” Wiss said just minutes after the final horn sounded. “Although we’re down three possessions, that was almost like the first energy that we had was at the end of the first half.
“You try to win the middle eight, and I thought we were pretty close in the end of the first half, but the second half, they came out and made a statement. I don’t know that they scored a bunch, but they showed that it was going to be very difficult for us to get back inside of a two possession game.”
The Wildcats got within seven at one point in the third quarter but faced a 26-16 deficit heading into the fourth quarter.
The Redskins kept attacking the basket, started getting whistles and took advantage.
Then they got into the bonus with four minutes to go. That made Minster’s climb back even tougher, but the Wildcats kept at it.
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The crafty Albers backed her way to the basket and banked in a shot to make it 31-23 St. Henry with 4:20 to go.
An eight-point deficit seemed large but not quite insurmountable if Minster could make its final stand there.
Instead, Homan drew a shooting foul and made a free throw. She missed the second, but Buschur grabbed it and put it back up for a backbreaking (and backward) three-point possession.
St Henry’s Olivia Gast attempts to shot block by Minster’s Kali Schmiesing.
The next time down the floor, St. Henry added two more crucial second-chance points when Alexis Buschur darted in to grab Karlee Buschur’s errant 3-pointer and put it right back up for a 35-23 lead with under three minutes to go.
After an empty Minster possession, Albers gave a foul in the back court and Homan knocked in a pair of bonus free throws to push the lead to 14 points with under two minutes to go.
She scored the final bucket of the game off a wide-open layup after the Redskins beat Minster’s trapping defense to finish with 10 points and was beaming after the game.
“Well, yeah, under pressure you’ve just gotta smile,” the sophomore said. “Stay positive — because if you crumble under pressure, it just gets the best of ya.
“Our pressure is very hard to beat. We frustrate and frustrate them. That’s what coach harps on us all the time. And just that’s our strength.
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Baumer had eight points for the Redskins while Alexis Buschur and Wendel had five apiece.
Albers led Minster with eight, Dirksen tallied seven and Schmiesing had four for the Wildcats, who finished the season 20-6.
After Homan’s final basket, there was nothing to do but empty both benches, one set of seniors going to the bench in tears for a final time and another bouncing up and down excitedly in anticipation of playing at least one more game for their school.
St. Henry’s Morgan Baumer has her shot blocked as the Redskins beat Minster in a regional semifinal.
“I love our seniors,” Wiss said of the group of Albers, Belcher, Jennavieve Hoying and Annie Hemmelgarn. “They’ve devoted four years to the program. What a class group of young ladies, and I hope that our young guys, our young ladies, have learned what that group has led. They’ve been to the regionals as seniors and to the state semis as juniors, to class group of young ladies. Minster should be proud.
“It’s a privilege to be a part of this, the following that we have from the community to watch young ladies lay it on the line. And 20-6 is nothing to be ashamed of. They should be very proud, as I am.”
While Wiss will not be going for a third state championship under his watch, St. Henry has never made it farther than the regional final. 
They’re eager to do the 1999 squad that lost in the elite eight to South Charleston Southeastern one better — at least one, of course.
“We talked about taking one game at a time, not looking too far ahead,” said Karlee Buschur, who acknowledged she and her teammates are still drawing motivation from losing the state championship volleyball match to Newark Catholic last fall.
“Tomorrow we’re gonna get back out at practice and hopefully reach our goal of winning a state title and kind of building off of the defeat that we’ve gotten from volleyball, and just using that to put a fire in our butt and go get that goal.”
Minster won this battle as Alexis Buschur (2) and Addy Homan (10) went for a loose ball.
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