SPENCERVILLE — The Jefferson Wildcats traveled to Spencerville Bearcat territory Thursday night, with both teams looking to increase their records in the Northwest Conference.
The Bearcats rallied with a 15-6 fourth period to prevail in this matchup 44-38.
Jefferson led 32-29 starting the final period but seemed to undergo a complete change of pace for the game. Jefferson started playing non-aggressively and Spencerville took advantage by taking it to the basket and blocking Jefferson’s shots. Spencerville junior Hayden Fast had quite a few blocks down low in the final period as Jefferson just kept putting it right into her hands under the basket. Jefferson lost two players to fouls in the final period, which then led to putting in some of the JV players off the bench.
The Wildcats started out strong after the second jump ball to open the contest. They were able to outscore the Bearcats by one point — 14-13 — at the buzzer of the first quarter.
The Wildcats went 6-for-12 from the field, the Bearcats 4-for-11. Spencerville dominated on the boards throughout the whole game but Jefferson was able to force more turnovers.
“I felt both teams played very even in the first half as both teams struggled with turnovers. Lauren Suever (12 points) did a nice job tonight with getting a few steals that she converted on and did a nice job of using her speed,” stated Spencerville coach Mary Ann Swartz.
The game stayed close over the second period as the half ended 22-21, Jefferson, going into the locker room. There was a point where Spencerville had the lead in the second period when Jefferson used a timeout with Spencerville up 17-16.
Going into the break, Jefferson had 10 turnovers and the Bearcats were up to 11 turnovers.
Jefferson went into the break shooting 31% from the field as the Bearcats were only shooting 23%. The difference in shooting percentage and points comes from where the shots were taken: Jefferson was shooting threes but they were not dropping.
“We were killed on the boards and had too many turnovers. We needed to stay more aggressive. We were able to get them into some foul trouble early but we missed too many free throws,” stated Jefferson mentor Dave Hoffman.
Jefferson was still playing strong in the third period, taking the lead by two at the end. Bridget Culp got into some foul trouble which forced Jefferson to sit her for quite a bit of the third. Foul shots were a problem for both teams as Jefferson shot 53% and Spencerville only shot 45%. Spencerville even lost a point on a lane violation.
Jefferson finished with 27 rebounds to the Bearcats’ 33.
“The second half, Jefferson started off strong and we fought back on defense. We decided to go to a 1-2-2 defense to try to keep Jefferson from getting the ball into Stacey Blockberger at the start of the fourth quarter. Hayden Fast played well for us having eight rebounds and 10 points. These two juniors did a good job,” added Swartz.
The Wildcats were led in balanced scoring by Ashley Watkins with seven and Emily Fought and Stephanie Blockberger six each. They fall to 5-6 (1-4 NWC) as they face off with Wayne Trace on Tuesday at Wayne Trace.
The Bearcats increase to 4-8 (1-4 NWC) and battle with Lima Central Catholic on Thursday.
In JV action, the Bearcats prevailed in overtime 35-34. The Bearcats were led by Brittany Kill with a game-high 19 points. The Wildcats received nine from Shelbi Brown.
