TONTOGANY — Sometimes big games call for big leadership
roles.Saturday night Perrysburg’s four captains — Taylor Knight, Becca Tudor,
Emily Treece and Kelsea Newman, all seniors —stepped up huge in the second half
helping the Yellow Jackets beat Findlay 55-34 in a Division I sectional final at
Otsego High School. PHOTO
GALLERY“They’ve
been through it. Kelsea has been through it four times, Taylor and Emily and
Becca have played in some really big games,” said ’Jackets head coach Todd Sims.
“And tournament games are different. They’re more physical and the crowds are
usually louder.”Perrysburg turned what was a dismal first-half performance on
the offensive end, into an offensive clinic in the second half where it
out-scored Findlay 33-17.Newman, who finished with a game-high 15 points and 10
rebounds, hit three of her five total 3-point shots in the second half, helping
the ’Jackets improve to 17-4 on the season.“(Seniors) seem to be calmer,” Sims
said. “When things aren’t going well, it’s usually the seniors that gather the
troops to calm them down. We have great leaders, no problems with our leadership
this year.”Perrysburg, while its defense played stellar throughout, was only
able to shoot 27 percent (9-of-34) from the field in the first half as it led
the Trojans 22-17 at the break.“First half we were really nervous because it’s
our first tournament game and everybody was just super tight, and once coach
Sims told us to lighten up and play our game, then we started making all of our
shots,” Knight said.The ’Jackets were clearly settled in the second half where
it made 50 percent (13-of-26) of its shots in the 16-minute span.“When we’re not
playing our game, our senior captains … step up and tell each other to pump
ourselves up and play our game,” Knight said.Treece scored nine of her 13 points
in the second half for Perrysburg. Knight finished with six points, six steals
and six assists and Tudor contributed four points and five rebounds.Sophomore
Sarah Baer collected 10 rebounds while scoring six points.The ’Jackets’ press
forced Findlay into 24 turnovers, limiting its offensive possessions essentially
not allowing it to get into any sort of rhythm.“That’s what we do, I say that a
lot,” Sims said. “That’s our game and I just talked about that in (the locker
room). Pressing isn’t necessarily just stealing the ball every time.“We always
talk about being around teams,” he added. “Just don’t let them get comfortable
and we’re good at that. We’re aggressive, we’re active so that’s our
game.”Perrysburg will play Bowling Green (16-5) in a district semifinal on March
1 at 7 p.m. at Otsego High School.PERRYSBURG 55, FINDLAY 34FINDLAYSwisher,
2-0—4; Muehl, 2-2-0—10; Burnside, 1-0—2; Hardesty, 0-0—0; Quinlin, 0-0—0;
Smarkel, 0-0—0; McQueen, 3-6—12; Kelly, 0-0—0; Stanfield, 3-0—6. TOTALS:
11-2-6—34.PERRYSBURGSattler, 1-1-0—5; Williams, 0-2—2; Knight, 3-0—6; Tudor,
2-0—4; Perry, 0-0—0; Gremler, 2-0—4; Treece, 5-3—13; Baer, 3-0—6; Newman,
0-5-0—15; Kaczinski, 0-0—0; Diehl, 0-0—0; Mufti, 0-0—0. TOTALS:
16-6-5—55.FINDLAY 4 13 13 4 —34PERRYSBURG 9 13 21 12 —55