Perrysburg celebrates. (Photo: Aaron Carpenter/Sentinel-Tribune)

FINDLAY — Perrysburg’s girls did everything they wanted to Saturday afternoon against Mansfield Senior.

As a result, the Yellow Jackets are moving on to the regionals once again.
Perrysburg was the aggressor and controlled nearly all of its Division I district final, going on to post
a 78-43 rout of the Tygers at Liberty-Benton High School. PHOTO
GALLERY
With the win, Perrysburg (19-4) claims its third district championship in four years. The ’Jackets
advance to Tuesday’s regional semifinal at Toledo Central Catholic High School where Perrysburg will
face the winner of Northview and Notre Dame Academy, which play later Saturday.
“Once we started rolling we played very well. Everybody that played, played well,” Perrysburg coach Todd
Sims said.
“We’ve been writing on the board, ‘Together we attack.’ With everybody together, we want to take the game
to the other team.
“We’ve been aggressive,” he continued. “We’ve been pressuring defensively. We’ve been attacking the
basket on offense. And that’s what we did today.”
Fourteen ’Jackets saw action in the game, and every one of them contributed in some form.
Senior Kelsea Newman, who has played a part in all three of Perrysburg’s district titles in the last four
years, scored a game-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds and three steals.
“It’s a great win. It’s just another step in our long road to hopefully getting farther and farther in
the tournament,” said Newman, who battled foul trouble after getting called for her third foul mid-way
through the second quarter.
Sophomore post Sarah Baer finished just short of a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and two
steals, and senior point-guard Taylor Knight added nine points and four assists for the ’Jackets.
“It means a lot to me,” Baer said. “I look up to the older players on the team and they’re my
inspiration. It just feels really good.”
Senior Emily Treece added eight points, and senior Megan Kaczinski scored seven points off the bench for
Perrysburg.
Twelve different players scored for Perrysburg, and the ’Jackets got 30 points combined from their bench.

“We just wanted to play our game. We went in there and we did what we do, and it worked for us,” Newman
said. “We came in here excited and ready to play, so everyone was just ready to contribute and do what
they could.”
Kaczinski, along with juniors Maddy Williams, Maddy Perry, and Samantha Gremler, and sophomore Abby
Sattler, all gave Perrysburg important and productive minutes off the bench in the first three quarters.

“I expect our bench to play well,” Sims said. “I know they don’t always play as much as they would hope.
Everybody goes through that. But when they get in the game … they can play. And I expect them to play
well, and everyone did tonight, which is good.”
It appeared to be a back-and-forth affair in the early going, as the game was tied at 10-10 before
Perrysburg went on a 9-0 run to close the first quarter.
The ’Jackets then continued to build their lead in the second quarter and took a 42-24 lead into
halftime. Perrysburg made 4-of-7 3-pointers in the first half, held a 19-11 advantage in rebounds, and
forced Mansfield into 13 turnovers in the first 16 minutes.
“We played really well. I think at the beginning of the game we sort of felt them out a little bit … It
was really competitive,” Sims said. “The first 15 minutes of the game we were all over the place tipping
balls and stealing and finishing around the basket.”
Perrysburg never led by fewer than 19 points in the second half. The ’Jackets finished shooting 52
percent (27-of-52) from the field and made 18-of-22 (82 percent) free throws.
“We’re just hoping to play exactly like we played today, because today was definitely what we have been
trying to do all year,” Newman said.
Now the road will get much tougher for Perrysburg at regionals. The ’Jackets lost to Notre Dame, 54-38,
on Jan. 21 at Perrysburg. Notre Dame beat Northview, a team that beat Perrysburg twice in the regular
season, 54-43 in the district finals on Saturday.
“It’s great for the program,” Sims said. “Nothing beats playing in big games. People come to those.
People who don’t even go to girls basketball games usually will come to these. That’s huge for us.
“It’s obviously great for the players. They’re all excited, and the seniors deserve this.”
Mansfield, which upset Ashland to reach the district finals, finished its season at 8-15 overall. The
Tygers were led by junior point-guard Imani Vickers, who finished with 13 points.
PERRYSBURG 78, MANSFIELD SENIOR 43
PERRYSBURG
Sattler, 2-0—4; Poll, 0-0—0; Williams, 2-0—4; Knight, 1-1-4—9; Tudor, 2-1—5; Perry, 2-0—4; Gremler,
1-2—4; Kaczinski, 2-1-0—7; Treece, 2-4—8; Baer, 3-4—10; Newman, 2-3-3—16; Diehl, 1-0—2; Dunphy, 0-0—0;
Mufti, 1-1-0—5. TOTALS: 21-6-18—78.
MANSFIELD SENIOR
Vickers, 2-2-3—13; Pugh, 0-0—0; Reese, 2-1—5; Bluester, 2-1—5; Hawkins, 1-2—4; Lambert, 0-0—0; Hamner,
3-2—8; K. Bond, 2-2—6; Leahy, 1-0—2; Norris, 0-0—0; Harris, 0-0—0; R. Bond, 0-0—0. TOTALS: 13-2-11—43.

PERRYSBURG 19 23 19 17 —78
MANSFIELD 10 14 13 6 —43