January 14, 2018 at 5:37 a.m.
Stars top Jay for title
Win marks SA's first ACAC tournament championship
Stars top Jay for title
Copyright 2018, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
BERNE — Seniors Lexi Dellinger, Madi Wurster, Sydney Pierce and Calyssa Lehman spent the last 12 seconds on the bench.
Twenty-eight other groups of Starfires had watched the final seconds of their Allen County Athletic Conference Tournament careers tick away. They looked on as Patriots and Lions and Railroaders and Flying Jets and Warriors walked away with trophies while most often they were eliminated prior to championship Saturday.
But this group of players was different. They went to the bench not because they had fallen short again, but rather because they had played so well over the previous 7:48 that history was in hand.
South Adams High School’s girls basketball team dominated the fourth quarter behind a combined 19 points from Wurster and Dellinger to earn its first ACAC tournament title with a 55-45 victory over the Jay County Patriots.
“It feels amazing,” said Dellinger, who was named the Hilliard Gates Most Valuable Player. “I’m so glad that this team got to leave an impact at our school.”
For the Patriots (12-7), it was the first conference tournament setback since joining the ACAC for the 2014-15 season. They are 33-2 in the league overall, with both losses coming to the Starfires at StarDome.
“Tonight wasn’t our night,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer. “We shot 3-of-21 from the 3-point line. We settled for things tonight, which I’m disappointed in. We’ve just got to learn from tonight and become a better basketball team from tonight.”
The game was knotted at 30 after three quarters before Wurster, who spent 8:40 of the first half sidelined because of foul trouble, took over the game.
The 6-foot-2-inch senior scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, and after a Jay County turnover notched a put-back. Following a Kendra Muhlenkamp 3-pointer for the Patriots, Wurster scored again and Pierce followed with a 3-pointer for a 39-33 advantage.
Gwen Omstead split a pair of free throws, but then the Starfires’ senior leaders drove home the dagger.
Dellinger first hit a 3-pointer from the left corner, was fouled in the process and buried the ensuing free throw for a four-point play. On the next trip down the floor, she fed Wurster in the post for an easy score that made it 45-34.
Wurster scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the final period. She added nine rebounds, one assist and one block.
“Obviously that hurt us, her being in foul trouble in the first half,” said South Adams coach Brett Freeman. “We talked about that in the locker room. I wanted her to put us on her shoulders and carry us to the end.”
Dellinger totaled 11 points, five assists and four rebounds in the title game. She became the second Starfire to win the tournament MVP award joining Amy Meyer, who earned it despite her team falling short of the title in 1999.
Pierce was a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance — she led South Adams to a 6-of-11 effort from beyond the arc for 55 percent — as she matched Dellinger with 10 points. Lehman came through with eight points, and sophomore Lydia Loshe scored the other seven.
“That’s what we’ve been hoping for all season long,” said Freeman. “When we have that kind of balance offensively, we’re going to be tough to handle.”
The first 24 minutes of the game were a see-saw battle, with South Adams getting on the board first and then Briana Muhlenkamp giving the Patriots a 4-3 advantage when she hit a 3-pointer off an assist from her sister Kendra (13 points, four assists). The lead would change hands eight times in the opening three quarters, and a Shelby Caldwell hoop off of a Hanna Ault assist knotted the score heading into the final eight minutes.
But even when his team had the lead — its largest was 17-12 during the second quarter — Comer didn’t feel his team was in the driver’s seat.
“I felt like they were in control most of the game,” he said. “Even though they weren’t ahead on the scoreboard maybe, I felt like they were controlling the tempo. … We never could get the game at our tempo. …
“As the game went on, especially in the fourth quarter when they got the six-point lead, I think you saw their confidence soar while you saw our confidence kind of go away.”
Ault followed Kendra Muhlenkamp with 11 points, and Caldwell hauled in seven rebounds.
All Rights Reserved
BERNE — Seniors Lexi Dellinger, Madi Wurster, Sydney Pierce and Calyssa Lehman spent the last 12 seconds on the bench.
Twenty-eight other groups of Starfires had watched the final seconds of their Allen County Athletic Conference Tournament careers tick away. They looked on as Patriots and Lions and Railroaders and Flying Jets and Warriors walked away with trophies while most often they were eliminated prior to championship Saturday.
But this group of players was different. They went to the bench not because they had fallen short again, but rather because they had played so well over the previous 7:48 that history was in hand.
South Adams High School’s girls basketball team dominated the fourth quarter behind a combined 19 points from Wurster and Dellinger to earn its first ACAC tournament title with a 55-45 victory over the Jay County Patriots.
“It feels amazing,” said Dellinger, who was named the Hilliard Gates Most Valuable Player. “I’m so glad that this team got to leave an impact at our school.”
For the Patriots (12-7), it was the first conference tournament setback since joining the ACAC for the 2014-15 season. They are 33-2 in the league overall, with both losses coming to the Starfires at StarDome.
“Tonight wasn’t our night,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer. “We shot 3-of-21 from the 3-point line. We settled for things tonight, which I’m disappointed in. We’ve just got to learn from tonight and become a better basketball team from tonight.”
The game was knotted at 30 after three quarters before Wurster, who spent 8:40 of the first half sidelined because of foul trouble, took over the game.
The 6-foot-2-inch senior scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, and after a Jay County turnover notched a put-back. Following a Kendra Muhlenkamp 3-pointer for the Patriots, Wurster scored again and Pierce followed with a 3-pointer for a 39-33 advantage.
Gwen Omstead split a pair of free throws, but then the Starfires’ senior leaders drove home the dagger.
Dellinger first hit a 3-pointer from the left corner, was fouled in the process and buried the ensuing free throw for a four-point play. On the next trip down the floor, she fed Wurster in the post for an easy score that made it 45-34.
Wurster scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the final period. She added nine rebounds, one assist and one block.
“Obviously that hurt us, her being in foul trouble in the first half,” said South Adams coach Brett Freeman. “We talked about that in the locker room. I wanted her to put us on her shoulders and carry us to the end.”
Dellinger totaled 11 points, five assists and four rebounds in the title game. She became the second Starfire to win the tournament MVP award joining Amy Meyer, who earned it despite her team falling short of the title in 1999.
Pierce was a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance — she led South Adams to a 6-of-11 effort from beyond the arc for 55 percent — as she matched Dellinger with 10 points. Lehman came through with eight points, and sophomore Lydia Loshe scored the other seven.
“That’s what we’ve been hoping for all season long,” said Freeman. “When we have that kind of balance offensively, we’re going to be tough to handle.”
The first 24 minutes of the game were a see-saw battle, with South Adams getting on the board first and then Briana Muhlenkamp giving the Patriots a 4-3 advantage when she hit a 3-pointer off an assist from her sister Kendra (13 points, four assists). The lead would change hands eight times in the opening three quarters, and a Shelby Caldwell hoop off of a Hanna Ault assist knotted the score heading into the final eight minutes.
But even when his team had the lead — its largest was 17-12 during the second quarter — Comer didn’t feel his team was in the driver’s seat.
“I felt like they were in control most of the game,” he said. “Even though they weren’t ahead on the scoreboard maybe, I felt like they were controlling the tempo. … We never could get the game at our tempo. …
“As the game went on, especially in the fourth quarter when they got the six-point lead, I think you saw their confidence soar while you saw our confidence kind of go away.”
Ault followed Kendra Muhlenkamp with 11 points, and Caldwell hauled in seven rebounds.
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