Staff report
WAPAKONETA — The top-seeded Minster Lady Wildcats took care of backyard rival New Bremen for the second time this season, and will now play for a district championship after a 39-23 victory in the semifinals at Wapakoneta Thursday night in Division 4 girls basketball action.
The win upped Minster’s record on the year to 22-2 heading into tonight’s district championship at Wapakoneta against Upper Scioto Valley, which defeated Marion Local in overtime in the first semifinal Thursday night. The winner Saturday advances to the regional tournament at Vandalia against today’s Russia-Covington winner.
New Bremen’s season ends at 13-12.
The Lady Wildcats had beaten the Lady Cardinals by a score of 49-18 in the regular season and wasted little time in taking control.
Stingy man to man defense and 6-foot-2 sophomore center Courtney Prenger were simply too much for New Bremen to overcome. Prenger would hit 4-of-5 from the floor in the first quarter on her way to a game-high 19-point effort, and she also added five blocks in the game.
The Lady Cardinals were held to just five points total in the second and third quarters and trailed 31-12 going to the final period of play.
Prenger was the only player in the game to score in double figures.
Minster connected on 14 of 39 shots from the field, compared to only 6-for-39 for New Bremen, just 15 percent. The Lady Wildcats also dropped in 10 of 12 free throws to just 8-for-19 for the Lady Cardinals.
• Marion Local led 22-13 at the half, but Upper Scioto Valley rallied back to send the game to overtime, eventually pulling out a 47-43 victory.
Upper is now 21-3 and meets Minster tonight at 7 at Wapakoneta for the district title.
Kara Evers had 13 and Natalie Rethman 12 for the Lady Flyers, who finished the season 14-11.
New Bremen (23) — Puthoff 5, Tenkman 3, Brown 2, Homan 3, Naylor 3, M. Smith 2, Arling 3.
Minster (39) — Fischer 2, Borgerding 4, Kogge 8, Prenger 19, Wolf 2, Roetgerman 4.
Score by quarters:
Bremen` 7 ` 10 ` 12 ` 23
Minster`14 ` 18 ` 31 ` 39
Three-pointers: NB 3 (Tenkman, Naylor, Arling); Minster 1 (Prenger).
Records: Minster 22-2, New Bremen 13-12.
Next game: Tonight, district championship at Wapakoneta vs. Upper Scioto Valley, 7 p.m.
