Staff report
WAPAKONETA — The Minster Wildcats were unable to advance to the Division 4 Sectional finals Friday after losing to Midwest Athletic Conference rival St. Henry in the semifinals at Wapakoneta Tuesday night, 58-48.
Minster finishes the season 13-10. St. Henry advances to play Lima Perry and is now 18-6.
The game was tight throughout the first half, with Minster answering every attempt St. Henry made to pull out to a comfortable lead.
But in the third quarter, the Redskins went on an 8-0 run to open up a 28-20 lead. The Wildcats came back to within 30-34, but Mitchell Stammen, who had the majority of the third-quarter points for the Wildcats, hit a jumper at the buzzer for a 32-24 lead, and then hit the first bucket of the final period to make it a 10-point advantage at 34-24.
But Connor Tumbusch hit a couple of free throws to cut the lead to 34-28 with 5:30 remaining in the game, only to have Jesse Niekamp put back a St. Henry miss for an eight-point lead again.
Minster missed two free throws at the other end, and St. Henry drained a three from the corner for a 39-28 bulge with under four minutes remaining.
After a timeout, the two teams traded three-pointers before Stammen hit again for a 44-33 lead, and the Redskins were able to maintain it the rest of the way.
