Redskins ride halfcourt offense past Spartans

LIMA - The coaches on both sides of Tuesday's girls basketball game at Lima Senior brought starkly different philosophies.

Lima Senior coach Vince Halliday wanted an uptempo game, letting his Spartans create off turnovers and odd-player advantages.

On the Wapakoneta side, coach Rusty Allen hoped to slow down the pace, giving the Redskins opportunity to run their halfcourt offense and keep the Spartans from running.

Allen and the Redskins got their way, winning a 62-38 decision.

"We can win basketball games when we get up early and we can dictate the tempo," Halliday said. "We have to be able to get down six or eight (points) and still play our game, slowly get back into it instead of trying to win it on one possession."

The Redskins (8-2) used an 18-0 run over the final six-plus minutes of the first half to take a 34-16 lead into the break. Devon Golden scored seven during the run, and Emily Steveley and Heidi Schlegel contributed four each.

"It really deflated them a little bit. They were hanging around, hanging around, and then we scored on eight of (the last) 10 possessions," Allen said. "I think that took the air out of them."

With the large halftime lead, the last thing Wapakoneta could afford was a strong push from Lima Senior (7-2) to open the third. The Spartans trimmed the lead to 36-23, but Wapakoneta closed on a 19-4 run.

"That's what we really focused on at halftime, not Xs and Os or making some adjustments. We talked about coming out and had we had to be intense and ready to play," Allen said.

Schlegel led all scorers with 17 points; she added seven rebounds. Golden had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Adding in Steveley (nine points) and Erica Bryan (seven), the Redskins had nice balance in the scoring column.

"Every girl on our team can shoot the ball. They can create their own shots," Golden said. "We're a very unselfish team. On this team, everyone is as happy with an assist as they are a basket."

The Redskins wanted to rebound from a 56-38 loss Thursday to Defiance. While Golden admitted they started flat, the Redskins were focused on Tuesday's game.

"This was a game we knew we had to win if we wanted to have the season we want," Golden said. "I think everyone took that on their shoulders and did their role."

Lima Senior held an early 7-2 lead and was ahead 18-16 before the Redskins began their decisive run. The Spartans got a team-high six points from both Jennifer Kemper and Dionna Hurley, who added five rebounds.

The Spartans frenetic defense forced 22 turnovers.

"I knew coming in that Wapakoneta was a very good basketball team," Halliday said. "I just didn't feel they were 30 points better than us. I wanted us to compete and play a solid four quarters, and we didn't do that."