Staff report
WAPAKONETA — The Minster Wildcats got off to a good start Tuesday night in Division 4 District semifinal action at Wapakoneta, but Lima Perry’s athleticism took over and the Commodores went on to a 62-50 victory.
The loss ended Minster’s season with a final mark of 13-10.
Lima Perry, the Northwest Central Conference champion and the No. 1 seed for this tournament, won its 17th game in a row and upped its record on the season to 21-3. The Commodores will face the winner of Tuesday’s second game between St. Henry and Fort Recovery, with the winner advancing to the regional tournament in Kettering next week.
The district final is Saturday at 7 p.m. at Wapakoneta.
Minster jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the game, but once the Commodores settled in, it was difficult for the Wildcats. What kept the game close was Minster’s dominance of the boards, but some of that was canceled out by turnovers.
A three-pointer by Perry’s Logan Gray stretched Perry’s lead to 15-9 after one quarter. The Commodores ran nearly a minute off the clock to take the last shot, not wanting to add to foul trouble that had two starters with two fouls in the opening quarter.
Just as they did to open the game, the Wildcats reeled off the first five points of the second quarter to pull within 15-14, and it stayed close the remainder of the half, with Perry leading 26-20 at the break.
In the third quarter, Minster scored the first four points to make it a two-point game at 26-24, but Plummie Gardner of Perry drained a three-pointer to push the lead back to five. After a Minster free throw, Perry went on a 6-0 run to make it a double-digit lead at 35-25, and the third quarter ended with the Commodores still holding a nine-point advantage at 38-29.
Mike Ketner’s two free throws opened the fourth quarter for Minster, but Perry outscored the Wildcats 11-4 to open up a 49-35 bulge.
Isaac Schmiesing stuck in a three, then converted a three-point play to cut the lead down to 50-41, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get.
Schmiesing and Ketner led Minster with 12 points apiece, and Aaron Ernst and Jarod Schulze added nine apiece.
