Anna’s Jenna Wolters shoots as Milton-Union’s Rachel Jacobs defends during a Division III sectional final on Tuesday at Northridge High School.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Anna’s Makenna Pettus shoots during a Division III sectional final on Tuesday at Northridge High School.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Anna’s Brenna Cobb shoots as Milton-Union’s Rachel Jacobs defends during a Division III sectional final on Tuesday at Northridge High School. Cobb led the Rockets with 14 points.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
DAYTON — Anna struggled to score early in most regular-season games. The Rockets haven’t had any problems blasting off in postseason play and are hoping to do so again in a district semifinal on Saturday.
Anna pulled away from Milton-Union in the first half of a Division III sectional final on Tuesday at Northridge High School and won 44-24 to advance to a district semi. The Rockets will face Tipp City Bethel on Saturday night.
Brenna Cobb scored seven of her game-high 14 points in the first quarter to help Anna take a 15-6 lead. She added five in the second quarter to help lead a 14-3 edge that pushed the advantage to 29-9 at halftime.
It was a big offensive half for Anna (15-9), which scored 29 or less points in four games in regular season and scored 32 or less points 10 times.
“We’ve been able to help each other out and get a lot of help defense, and the girls are just bringing it on the defensive end. These last two games, it’s been nice to get an offensive start, because all season long, we’ve had to fight out of holes to get back into games,” first-year coach Randy Huber said.
“These last two games, we’ve brought the offense to open up the game. That makes it a lot easier to coach. The girls are fabulous.”
Cobb, who averages 12 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, said Anna is playing more cohesively on offense.
“We’ve really been able to handle the defensive pressure they’ve been throwing at us,” Cobb, a junior guard, said. “They threw a zone at us tonight. We’re not used to that in the SCAL, but we overcame that.
“We worked hard. We turned it around on the defensive end, and we shut them down there.”
Anna, which built a 24-5 lead by halftime in a 41-25 win over Brookville in a sectional opener on Thursday, will try to keep the hot starts going on Saturday when it faces Bethel (19-4).
The Bees were voted the Dayton Division III sectional’s No. 1 seed and were tied for No. 10 in the final Associated Press state D-III poll of the season. Like Anna, Bethel stresses defense and has held opponents to an average of 38.3 points per game.
“We’ve watched them a couple of times, and they’ve got some players,” Huber said. “We like to compare them to our girls. Some could almost be twins. Brenna and their point guard do a lot of the same things. They make some mistakes, but they’re Energizer bunnies and are all over the court.”
Bethel senior guard Karley Moore averages 16 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.8 steals per game. Senior forward Kerigan Calhoun averages 12.4 points and 4.4 rebounds and senior guard Rhyan Reittenger averages 7.5 points, 3.1 assists and 2.9 steals.
The No. 4 seed Rockets are holding opponents to an average of 32.2 points per game and have held three opponents under 20 points.
Huber said aside from Cobb leading Anna, the squad has relied on getting contributions from several players. Sophomore guard Makenna Pettus is averaging five points and 4.5 rebounds, junior Jenna Wolters averages 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds and senior Jadyn Huber averages three points and leads the team’s defensive presence in the post.
“It’s been a good all-around team effort,” Randy Huber said. “We’ve been stepping up. We made good decisions tonight, took care of the ball. The girls are maturing quickly.”
Anna lost four players to graduation from last season’s 14-11 campaign. Cobb is one of six returning letterwinners but is one of the few who played a major role last season as well. She said the team has improved as it has gained experience this season.
“We’ve really focused on sharing the ball and being there for each other,” Cobb said. “I know a lot of us are really demanding of ourselves. We don’t focus on the team as much, we play more of a selfish game. I think being at practice and playing with each other, we are focusing more on sharing the ball, knowing how other teams react when we play with each other well.”
Senior guard Taylor Poeppelman added 10 points in Tuesday’s victory.
Milton-Union, which was the sectional’s No. 4 seed, finishes with an 18-6 overall record.
