WAPAKONETA — Minster’s girls basketball team has proven its capable of playing at the state level in Division IV. In the second half of a district semifinal against New Bremen on Thursday, it gave another showcase of its potential.
The Wildcats ran away to a 51-33 win over the Cardinals in a Division IV district semifinal at Wapakoneta. Minster advances to a district final on Saturday against Fort Recovery, which will tip off at 7 p.m.
Minster, which lost in a regional final against Jackson Center last year, hasn’t lost to a Div. IV team yet this year. The Wildcats (20-3) suffered back-to-back losses to D-III powers Versailles and Anna in mid-January but have rattled off seven wins since.
The ‘Cats have tremendous balance between post players Courtney Pregner and Taylor Kogge and several guards. It makes them a tough defensive assignment, which New Bremen was reminded of in the second half on Thursday.
Seven different players scored for Minster in the second half to help the team use a 30-14 advantage to put the Cardinals away.
Pregner scored six of her nine points in the second half, while Kogge had one basket. Wiss said the difference was made by getting the ball inside to the duo, and after New Bremen’s defense collapsed, throwing it back out to open guards.
“We talked about that we have to go inside,” Wiss said. “We have to continue working to get the ball into our posts. When our posts get doubled, we have to recognize when it’s coming, where it’s coming from and who the open person is. We have shooters, and our shooters can score, but we’re an inside out team.”
Ivy Wolf scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half and Demaris Wolf scored six of her nine in the second half. Ali Fischer added eight points, including a long 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer that put Minster ahead 38-25.
The Wildcats led 21-19 at halftime but outscored New Bremen 17-6 in the third.
“Our shots started to fall, and I am ecstatic about how we rebounded the basketball tonight against their very good rebounding team,” Wiss said. “I’m just really pleased with our rebounding. The girls bought into everything that we talked about.”
Minster will turn its attention to Fort Recovery, which it narrowly beat in a Midwest Athletic Conference game to finish regular season. The Wildcats won 38-35 in Fort Recovery on Feb. 15. Both squads were ranked in the final state Associated Press Division IV poll.
“This is the game we wanted to get back to to get to the next round,” Wiss said. “Everyone wants to get to (a district final), and we’re fortunate enough to get here.”
New Bremen played Minster close in the squads’ regular-season MAC game and rallied after the Wildcats scored the first 15 points of the third quarter. Minster held on to win 47-44.
“That was discussed at halftime,” Wiss said. “We scored 15 straight and gave them eight back.”
New Bremen finishes 19-5 overall. The Cardinals will lose forwards Paige Jones and Jane Homan to graduation but will return everyone else. Coach Chris Burden hopes the season is a sign of things to come.
“Most wins in school history and we played in the districts, which doesn’t happen often at New Bremen,” Burden said. “We’re losing some great kids, two seniors that meant the world to our program and helped build what we have today. They’ll be truly missed, but next year we have some kids that could get us back to this stage.”
Kayla Bergman led New Bremen with nine points.
