First Posted: 1/29/2015
ELIDA — Elida hung in as best it could, but Shawnee’s post advantage and foul trouble were too much to overcome.
Shawnee edged Elida 62-59 in overtime in a Western Buckeye League girls basketball game at the Elida Fieldhouse on Thursday. Shawnee improved to 7-9 overall and 3-3 in the WBL while Elida is 2-4, 6-10.
Shawnee 5-foot-11 senior post Maryssa Herschler turned in a big effort with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Overall, the Indians outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-27.
“We said coming into the game we thought our post would have an advantage if we were strong in there and went hard to the glass,” Shawnee coach Jeff Heistan said. “After our 4 or 5 possessions to start the game, we did a nice job getting it there. I wanted to work inside out eventually but inside worked so well we stuck with it.”
Elida also struggled with foul trouble throughout the second half and lost two key players in the overtime – 5-11 junior forward Bailee Kuhn to start the extra period and senior standout guard Abby Waddle late.
“We didn’t have a post presence at all really,” Elida co-coach Elise Jenkins said. “We got outrebounded horribly … (Herschler) had an awesome game.”
Still, the entire contest was a back-and-forth affair. Waddle scored 15 points in the first half to help the Bulldogs to a 27-22 lead at halftime. But in the third quarter, Shawnee’s post presence began to take over with an 8-0 run at one point for a 30-29 lead with 3:01 remaining in the third quarter. The Indians outscored the Bulldogs 13-6 in the quarter but had just a 35-33 lead.
The fourth quarter became a nail-biter as Shawnee continually put the ball in the post and either scored or went to the free throw line while Elida’s perimeter play helped force overtime.
In the extra period, Herschler scored the first three points to give Shawnee a 55-52 lead. Despite playing uphill most the overtime, Elida continued to battle back but a pair of free throws by Shawnee point guard Alaina Ciminillo gave Shawnee a 60-56 lead with 19.3 left.
“It was a great game and I thought Ciminillo was incredible at guard,” Heistan said. “She had a lot of pressure on her and she did a great job stepping up and hitting those free throws.”
Elida answered with a Hope Carter 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 60-59, but with only 4.0 seconds remaining, Shawnee was able to ice the game with Ashley Medsker free throws. Medsker finished with 16 points for Shawnee and DeAsia Smith added 12 points.
Waddle led Elida with 18 points, Carter had 12 points and Shyah Wheeler and Brett Pauff scored 10 points each for Elida.
“I think we played scared in the first half,” Jenkins said. “We were anxious to play Shawnee, that’s always a big game for us, a big crowd. I think the kids had a lot of jitters. I think the sacredness and no post presence killed us.”
